Paradox Book One: Water
by kage kitsune 14
Summary: My OC, Kiara is dumped in the abandoned Fire Navy Ship. How does she change the story? "But it was a cartoon. It couldn't be real. Sure I've read fanfictions about this kind of thing happening but it couldn't happen to someone normal like me." Recently Edited!
1. The South Pole and Deaging

**PARADOX**

**Chapter One: The South Pole and De-aging**

I was freezing when I woke up. Why was I freezing? Last thing I remembered was slipping under a thin sheet in my underwear because it was so hot.

I peeled my heavy eyelids up as I peered around my surroundings. I was in a smallish cabin like room. I scanned the room for anything that looked even vaguely familiar.

There! There was a red flag on the wall. It had a stylized flame in the middle. I recognized it, but it shouldn't be possible. Fire Nation Flag. But it was a cartoon. It couldn't be real. Sure I've read fanfictions about this kind of thing happening but it couldn't happen to someone normal like me.

I wouldn't let it happen. Who wants to be a perfect little Mary-Sue? Not me that's for sure. I'd rather wear stripper clothes, and I was extremely modest. I wasn't going to be a Mary-Sue no way in Hell.

I scrambled out of the ratty bed and promptly fell on my face when my feet didn't reach the floor when expected. I was shorter than I had been when I went to sleep.

"Goddamned cliches!" I swore out loud as I picked myself up from where I had fallen. A distorted reflection caught my attention, I found my gaze on a grime incrusted mirror. Now that I noticed it the whole room was grimy and dusty. Even the bed I had just gotten out of.

I used a corner of the dirty sheet from the bed to clean off the mirror and took a look at myself. And repeated my earlier phrase. "Goddamned cliches!" I was younger again. I was around six or seven. I was thinner than I had been in years.

"Damn it! I was almost old enough to drink. I only had three years left now I have to wait almost fourteen years." I swore. "I could really use a drink." I thought out loud staring at my reflection.

I opened my mouth and smiled at the mirror. Yep, seven. When I was seven I used a horrendously complicated method to remove two of my front teeth. It had involved a really long piece of string, a tree, a bumper that was still attached to a car, and a door. Looking back it was extremely stupid but my brother had got a dollar for loosing one tooth; to my younger logic, twice the teeth lost, twice the reward gained. Hindsight really is twenty-twenty.

So I was seven years old, in an obnoxiously cold place on an abandoned Fire Nation ship. Great. (If it wasn't obvious enough for you the last part was sarcasm).

Well, no use moaning over what I didn't have. I might as well see what I did have. I was dressed in a thick blue parka with cream colored pants and brown boots that reached just below my knees. Around my wrists gloves were attached via a thin but strong cord, obviously so they didn't fall. My hair was a bit shorter then I normally had it, it barely brushed the base of my neck. It was still a deep brown color but it looked a little darker than normal, more black than brown. My eyes had changed though. They were ocean blue with little flecks of storm cloud gray swimming in the blue. My skin was the same shade as normal, light peach color, I had a slight sunburn considering it was summer in my world.

Because I was in the Avatar the Last Airbender world I figured I better choose a different name before I started on anything else. Kori, no that doesn't sound like me at all. Mizuki, no that reminds me of that asshole from Naruto. Saki, no sounds like rice wine too much. Kiara, that was a pretty name. And I had always liked it since I watched Lion King 2.

So now my name was Kiara.

I slipped out of the room and began my search. I picked my way around any trip wires and moved the useful stuff to my room and the room next to it. The armory was a gold mine. There were dozens of spears, which I could use to attempt to catch fish. There were half a dozen spark rocks, what firebenders needed them for was lost on me. Several old maps that were ready to crumble into dust and blow away. Books on customs, culture, and etiquette of the Fire Nation. Scrolls on spear fighting, duo dao swords, firebending (beginner through master), the spirits, other weapons, preserving food stuffs, and much much more found squirreled away where ever there was room.

There was a large pile of coal; giant pots probably used to feed dozens of soldiers at a time, knifes, whetstones, ladles, there was even some food stuffs that had been preserved. There was a lot of rope, several nets, nearly two hundred brand new candles, there was a whole bunch of currency I had no clue about. There was even a flute like instrument which looked like it had seen better days. Not to mention journals of the soldiers, their clothes, rut sacks, armor, hammocks the soldiers slept in, and other personal effects. There were the large drums that stored fresh water, which had been frozen after not being heated for some time. A tea pot and box of various tea leaves, a first aid kit as big as my torso. And other little things I couldn't really name quite yet.

It just hit me. I was in the South Pole. That shows our scientists whose boss. Apparently life can survive at the poles because the water tribe that lives near here obviously had survived.

And I would survive too.

**A/N: So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Or not? I have the next four or five chapters written out they just need typed up with some minor editing as I go along. So send me some feed back. I will update about every other day. I'm in school now so I don't have time to update everyday like I did for Akakittens. Sorry.**


	2. Meet Kovu

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Two: Meeting Kovu**

I had been at the South Pole for two years now. I was now accustomed to the cold. All the exercise I did to catch my food kept me thin, unlike the first time I grew up. I didn't have my parents around to hold my hand this time around. I didn't know if I would have survived if I was actually seven instead of just physically seven.

Over the years I had bettered my hunting skills. I found a place where Carribou-goats grazed on lichen and fox-hens helped themselves to moss and snowberries. I found tiger-seal breathing holes, and their cousins the zebra-seals' breathing holes too. I've found feral Polar bear dogs that joined packs of Lynx-wolves and Polar Leopards; who would allow me to hunt along side them, sometimes driving the prey to me and other times I would drive the prey to them. I've grown closer to a pack of Lynx-wolves that had a Polar bear dog as an alpha.

The alpha female was due to have her litter of cubs any day now. I was hunting so I would be able to watch the cubs so the rest of the pack could hunt too. I was just going to get a few fox-hens. Fox-hens were fox shaped animals with beaks like chickens and small short wings and had talons where each of its claws should be. They were a mostly docile animal, very timid but would defend their chicks to the death.

Another thing I had learned over the years was that I could waterbend. I was almost as good as a trained waterbender. I could make a water whip, freeze the water, unfreeze water, make a wave, and make daggers from ice. I could also do a very basic octopus, it only had two arms but it would work in a bind. I had read the firebending scrolls thoroughly. I used some of the basics to help me with my own element. Like using the breathing exercises and meditation techniques.

I waited patiently by the den of a fox-hen. Its white head poked out shyly clucking to itself nervously. Finally it took a step out and started searching for the layer of lichen under the thin sheet of snow. I made a fist and opened and closed it quickly. Like Gaara's sand coffin attack. The snow around the fox-hen jumped up and strangled it before it could move. I looked at the dead animal sadly. I had always hated killing things but it was kill or starve to death out here. Sure I could try to be a vegetarian, but I wouldn't survive long on snowberries and sea prunes alone.

I had to hurry if I wanted to make it in time to see Momma wolf give birth to her cubs. So I ran creating ice blades under my feet to skate like on ice. I reached the cave just as the Alpha male walked in carrying the leg of a Carribou-goat. It had obviously come from a male because the females had a muscle that attached to the udder on their legs. I followed shortly behind him. There were nine cubs. Eight normal sized ones and one runt. The runt was shoved away from the mother's nipples without milk due to its larger siblings. I looked at it sadly. It would probably die without the mother's care. And she had the other eight to look out for.

I knelt beside Momma wolf and gently petted her head as she rested after giving a hard birth. The runt whined and yelped for food but the others kept it pushed away. I looked at the cub sadly. If only I had a cow or something I could raise it myself. The only thing that gave milk out her were the carribou-goats and it would be extremely hard to catch them.

Extremely hard but not impossible. The only problem I would have would be taming it afterward, keeping it fed, and keeping my allies from hunting her. I thought about it. It could be done. And if it didn't save the cub I had a fresh source of milk. If I caught more than one I could raise my own herd too. Then I'd have lots of fresh milk as well as fresh meat. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. If I caught the fox-hens too I could get eggs as well.

Momma seemed to realize what I was thinking and nudged the runt towards me. I gently picked it up cuddling it to my coat. It whined cutely and I fell in love with it.

"Momma, I'm going to go catch some Carribou-goats for milk. Take care of little Kovu until I come back." I said softly setting him back beside his litter mates. Momma looked up at me and nodded intelligently.

I nodded back and left the cave at a run. If I hurried I could catch a Carribou-goat before they went to rest for the day. I reached my home, the abandoned ship and used waterbending to create a large pen out of ice, it was 20' by 20'. It touched the corner of the ship to form one of the corners. I took a deep breathe and made a large cave like structure in the corner where it touched the ship. Now they could go in there if a blizzard came up.

Now to catch them in the first place. I "opened" the fence in one spot just big enough for a Carribou-goat to slip through. I created a wall on each side of the opening and made it into a bottle neck. I would chase the Carribou-goats into the bottle neck and they would have no choice but to go into the fence.

It took me nearly four hours and ten failed attempts before I finally figured out how to drive the goats into the fence. I managed to catch three of them, two females and one male. The male ran at the fence furiously trying to break it down and I hurried to close the gate. I would have to create a fence to to separate the male and females when I went to milk the females. I would probably have to immobilize them with ice first too. Or else I'd get killed by an angry goat.

I went into the ship and came back with two metal buckets I quickly cleaned before heading to the pen. No time like the present to try to milk the goats. Either I would be able to or I would have to take time to tame them and the cub would die.

No pressure.

I created a raised wall blocking the male from the females. It went even madder trying to get back to them. I made the snow raise up and cover the legs of the females and froze it in place. I was a little worried about the antlers but I could avoid them as long as I kept out of range. Both animals shook their heads in fear and rage as I approached. I made sure my ice was going to hold before going to work. I had never actually milked anything in real life. I only knew how to do it due to my "Lost in Blue" DS game which had a mini game where you had to milk a goat if you played as the female.

After about an hour of my fumbling with milking I figured I had enough for right now. I had two half buckets because I wasn't very good and ended up pulling to hard or not hard enough. When on of the females finally got a leg free and took a kick at me I figured it was time to go.

I got out of the fence, closing it behind me with bending before unfreezing the females who walked around agitated before settling down next to each other for warm. The male finally managed to get back to the females after I let the wall down some. He laid in front of the females and they rested their heads on his back.

I went up to the ship and slowly poured the milk into one of the empty water barrels. I created a layer of ice around the outer edge of the barrel and put the lid on top. The ice would keep it cool and I could heat it up using coal and fire when I needed the warm milk for the cub.

I made my way over to Momma's den as I ate a dried piece of zebra-seal along the way. As soon as I reached the den I was surrounded by hungry younger wolves I sighed ripping what remained of my jerky into pieces and threw it out of the cave. All of the wolves barked like eager puppies and bounded out of the cave after the scraps of food. I approached Momma wolf and she once again picked the runt up depositing him in my arms.

"Hello little Kovu." I whispered the name I'd chosen just hours ago. "You can visit him when he grows up some." I told Momma as I left the cave. She howled an agreement.

"Say bye to Momma and your brothers and sisters, Kovu." I told him. He barked and whined snuggling into my coat trying to escape the colder air the outside offered.

I looked down at him and was suddenly uncomfortably reminded of my dog Angel. She had been a Labrador retriever. She had probably died by now. She had been eight when I had been dropped here two years ago so it was possible.

I shook the depressing thoughts away. Kovu needed me now. Angel was in a whole other world. Kovu was in my arms. I smiled down at him. I would take care of him and he would in turn take care of me.

I would have my very own herding dog-er wolf. He would help me hunt more food than I could on my own or with the pack. With the pack I would have to share the kill with the whole pack, with Kovu it would just be the two of us.

Yeah, just the two of us against the nearly barren lands of the South Pole.


	3. Spirit of the Hunt

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Three: Spirit of the Hunt**

I struggled to pull the freshly killed tiger-seal to the village almost a mile away. I was dressed as a huntress. My hair which had grown from neck length down to the middle of my back was braided and held back by a thin strip of brown leather. I had used red paint to disguise my face by adding a wolves paw print right above my right eyebrow and three thin fox whiskers on each cheek. I had think fur pants, with a knee length skirt over it, and a fur coat that was left open revealing a skin tight, brown shirt.

Kovu had grown in the last two years he now reached my elbow and was big enough for me to ride if need be. He had helped me hunt, it was thanks to him that I had enough food to go around for me to be able to drop off a whole animal for the village. The last hunt had been very successful, we had caught two seals instead of just one so we decided to share our spoils with the near-by village. I knew they had been having some trouble since nearly all their men had went off to war.

There was one male left in the village and he hasn't even reached the age of sixteen yet so he couldn't even be considered a man. He was a good hunter but he was one kid trying to feed twenty some people. The seal I was carrying (dragging), would probably feed the village for ten or so meals.

I stopped for a quick rest just on the hill right before the village, adjusting my bow over my shoulder farther as I waited. I was a novice archer but a wounded animal left a clearer trail than a healthy one. My dad wouldn't agree of course. He would always call arrows "fester sticks" and always said they just let the animal get away to get infected and die. He preferred the clean kill of a gun. Of course I don't blame him. I wouldn't mind a gun right now either.

If the seal was received well I would begin bringing more food to the village. With the lack of help they could use all the help they could get. Fish were easy to catch with my waterbending and I could herd the Carribou-goats like I usually did. Cages to box in fox-hens and tiger seals and zebra seals wouldn't be hard to do either.

A full moon illuminated the sleeping villages as I snuck into the center. I unloaded the tiger seal and left it there. I used a palm sweep to make the snow erase the sled tracks and my foot prints. I made a small ice statue of my persona and then wrote underneath it ARTEMIS. Artemis had been one of my favorite mythological gods. The goddess of the hunt and was also known as the virgin goddess. She was also the goddess of nature, and ironically enough childbirth and fertility. Although she devoted herself to an eternity of celibacy she was said to give guidance over the process of childbirth and releasing mothers from their pain. She wouldn't mind me using her name as an alias, at least I didn't think she would.

I retreated to the hill I had rested on just earlier that night and waited for the reactions.

And react they did. The first person to come out was a girl about a year older than me. She had her hair in a braid and had weird hair-loopy things on either side of her head. 'Katara' my mind whispered to me, a half forgotten memory. I blinked. I had nearly forgotten how I got here and where here was. The survival needed for day to day had nearly driven anything non-important to survival out of my head. She stared at the seal in shock for several moments before yelling for "Gran-Gran" and "Sokka". An old woman and the oldest male stumbled out of the same tent she had just come from at her yell. The old woman muttered something under her breath, then spoke louder.

The rest of the village had gathered around the dead seal at the girl's yell. "This spirit, Artemis, has blessed us with a fresh hunt. She must have noticed Kita's pregnancy and our men leaving. And has decided to bless us with her support." She announced to the village.

A grand cheer rose up from the rest of the village.

Gran-Gran ordered Sokka to get to work butchering the seal and he immediately set to work so he could get back to his usual schedule.

I watched happy to know "Artemis" was appreciated.

I returned the next day with a bucket made of ice filled with a half dozen large fish. I didn't leave a name this time.

Soon I set a pattern coming every other day. I started creating a mist to walk in the village with as a cover because some of the women had taken to staying up late to try to catch Artemis at work.

Some of the younger village children built me a shrine of snow. And I started leaving the food there to show my appreciation. Kovu enjoyed the extra hunting and I enjoyed helping the struggling little village.


	4. Coming Clean and Capture

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Four: Coming Clean and Captured**

I had just taken down a Carribou-goat when a giant pillar of light exploded into the sky. I dropped my bow in shock before regaining my sense and picking it back up. Kovu threw his head back and howled a greeting.

It had been six years since I had woken up in the abandoned ship, and nearly two since I had actually remembered where I was. Most of the time I had forgotten I was in the Avatar the Last Airbender universe, it was almost easy to forget when I needed to spend all my time gathering food so I could survive. I was now in a thirteen year old body, but mentally I was twenty-four.

I sighed, I had unconsciously been waiting for Aang to reappear, and now he has.

Tonight was a drop-off night, but first I had to pack my supplies for tomorrow. I was going with them somehow.

"Kovu, haul." I ordered as soon as I had the dead animal on the sled. Kovu eagerly grabbed the bar I had attached to the sled for precisely this purpose. As we walked back to the ship that had become my home in the past six years I mentally made a list of all the things I would need to do before I left.

Move my herd of Carribou-goats, the herd had grown, it now had eight females, one male, and 9 fawn/kids.

Collect the spears and give them to the tribe so they could hunt better.

Give the water kegs to the water tribe, they needed them more than I did.

Give the tribe what smoked jerky I didn't take with me.

Pack two changes of clothes, two water skins, a bag of money, my duo dao swords, my bow and arrows, small dagger, journal I had actually written in, jerky, scrolls on firebending, scrolls on the dao swords, and two hammocks I could use as a sleeping bag.

We reached the ship and I quickly packed my things then loaded up the weapons and kegs onto the Carribou-goats. The fawns carried the smaller weapons so they didn't get hurt.

I snuck into the town that night leaving the dead Carribou-goat where I normally left food and then making an arrow out of ice pointing to the spot I planned to make the Carribou-goat pen. I made the pen forty feet by forty feet, then I unloaded the Carribou goats before herding them into the pen. I made a water trow out of ice for them then left them to their own devices.

I carved a note on the ice that made up the door of the pen.

The next morning all the villagers, and Aang went to see the pen. Aang had been told the story by Katara as they had traveled to the village via Aang's Flying Bison.

"For years I have provided for this village. I have masqueraded as a spirit. I have lied. I'm not anymore a spirit than I am a man. In providing for you I have forgotten one of the most important proverbs. "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Now I'm sure you already know how to fish so I'm just going to give you stuff that will make your life easier. The Carribou-goats are tame. You can milk the females. The spears are for fishing or fighting whichever you need and finally the kegs are for storing things. In one of the kegs is a supply of jerky I hadn't gotten around to eating. I believe it will serve the village better than it would have served me. I now beg your forgiveness for hiding my true nature, that of a human, and wish you all the luck in the world."

I watched from the top of the hill as the villagers read off the message I had carved into the ice and wondered what their reaction would be.

Finally I heard a chant start up. "Art-e-mis! Art-e-mis!" The whole village was cheering... for me.

I smiled, they still liked me even though I had lied for so long. I created a small ice tent and settled down to wait for Zuko and his crew to arrive. Kovu laid beside me and the gentle up and down motion of Kovu's chest lulled me into a light slumber.

I was woken up by the shrill screams of women and children. I was up instantly an arrow notched into my bow quickly after that. I aimed and released the arrow. It flew swiftly and hit Zuko's ponytail slicing off several strands of hair.

Kovu carried me closer to the battle so I was planted protectively in front of the small crowd of villagers. I swung off of Kovu's back easily leaving my bow on his back along with my quiver of arrows. They were a better long range weapon anyway.

"Next time it won't be just your hair getting cut." I told him casually, as though I shot at people everyday.

"Who the hell are you?" Zuko snarled angrily.

"Some call me Artemis. My name's Kiara." I responded easily. There was a general chatter in the crowd behind me. They obviously didn't expect me to be so young or a girl.

Aang stood several feet to my left holding the staff defensively in front of the crowd of women and children.

"Men, subdue her." He ordered. Instantly the six men that had been behind him attacked me. I swung a wall of ice up blocking the six simultaneous fireballs and extinguishing them. I turned the ice into water and sent it back at them like a whip knocking most of them off of their feet.

My stance was a mixture of firebending forms, dao sword katas and waterbending forms. I easily froze the water around the firebenders freezing them to the ground.

Before I could turn to defend myself. Zuko had latched an arm around my neck and had me pressed against his armor covered chest. His other hand was in front of my face holding a fireball threateningly.

"Release them water-witch." Zuko ordered me surprisingly calmly. I waved my hand and the ice melted into water. Zuko didn't release me though.

"Avatar, unless you give yourself up the girl is going to die." Zuko said almost cruelly. I shuddered at the tone of his voice. Would her really do it though? I really didn't want to find out.

"If I go with you do you promise to leave everyone alone?" Aang asked. Looking at the villagers and me.

"No Aang!" Katara yelled.

I shuddered as Zuko moved the flame closer to my face. I closed my eyes flinching back into him and away from the fire as far as I could.

"I will leave the village in peace." Zuko agreed.

Aang nodded. One soldier took his staff and two more grabbed each of his arms. Zuko put the flame out but kept a hold on my neck.

"Head a course for the Fire Nation. We're going home." Zuko said not letting me go as he headed toward the ship.

"You said you'd let her go!" Aang protested even as his hands were bound behind his back. I felt my arms also being tied.

"I said I would leave the village in peace. She's not the village." Zuko said. "We can't have waterbenders loose. Too dangerous." Zuko explained.

I felt myself knocked to the ground when Zuko pushed me forward to fast for me to regain my feet. I yelped as I landed face first. I struggled to regain my footing. I made it to my knees before I couldn't push myself up any further. I never really realized how much I used my hands until I couldn't use them anymore.

I whimpered as I was hauled to my feet harshly by my arms wrenching them harshly nearly pulling them from their sockets.

I felt a tear slip out of the corners of my eyes.

Aang looked at me concerned and looked at Zuko and his men angrily.

We reached the deck to meet a portly smiling man. "Ah, Prince Zuko you have found the Avatar, but who is this young lady." Iroh said.

"She's a waterbender." Zuko answered simply.

"Take the Avatar and Waterbender to the prisonhold. And take this to my quarters." Zuko ordered handing Aang's airbending staff to his uncle.

I was shoved along beside Aang down into the belly of the ship.

"I bet you've never fought an airbender before. I bet I could take you with my hands tied behind my back." Aang taunted the soldiers. The soldier behind us told him to shut up. The soldier in front of us brought out a key to unlock the door and Aang drew in a deep breath breathing out sending a gust of wind into the one guards back and sending his own body launching back into the other guards front. I quickly followed Aang as he fled the corridor.

"Slow down, please." I begged trying to keep up with Aang's air enhanced speed.

Aang seemed to realize my problem and with a little maneuvering I managed to cut his and my binds. He let me onto his back then raced off. I felt slightly nauseous at the speed we were going. We evaded several more guards. But Aang had to look in every room for his staff. Finally he found it. I slipped off of Aang's back as he raced into the room to get his staff. I followed him more cautiously. But I guess it didn't help because Zuko slammed the door behind me with a slam.

"It seems I underestimated you two." Zuko said casually. "I won't make the same mistake, again." Zuko said he took a firebending stance.

I moved into a mirrored stance. And grabbed Zuko's dao swords off the wall holding them in front of me defensively. Aang moved his staff in front of him defensively. Zuko launched two blasts of fire at both of us. Aang used his staff to dissipate Zuko's attack. I stepped forward dodging around the fireball and launching a counter strike, slashing at Zuko's arm hoping to slow his firebending down.

Zuko dodged my attacked, and grasped my wrists tightly making me drop the swords. I cried out in pain as he squeezed my wrist harshly. I fell to my knees in pain and grit my teeth tightly trying to ignore the pain as a hissed breath escaped from between my teeth.

Zuko was suddenly launched away from me by a blast of air and then Aang used the mattress to knock him around some more. We got up and ran. Aang slinging me over his shoulder and carrying me.

He reached the map room and ran toward the open air flinging his glider into the air and jumping on it with me still on his back.

Zuko suddenly grabbed at mine and Aang's ankles. I yelped in shock as we fell out of the sky. We hit the deck and rolled harshly. My head bashed harshly against the metal rail of the ship and everything went black.

I woke a few minutes later just as a giant wave of water, controlled by Aang who was in the Avatar State, flooded the deck knocking most of the firebenders down. I groaned as I forced myself to my feet stumbling. Aang stopped glowing and Katara ran to him cradling Aang's head to her chest.

"Hi Katara, Sokka. I dropped my staff." Aang whispered.

"I got it." Sokka yelled as he grabbed the staff. Zuko grabbed the end of the staff even as Sokka grabbed it.

Sokka made a face then hit Zuko in the forehead three times knocking him back off the ship. I stumbled toward the bison even as three guards came after Katara.

I quickly grabbed a bunch of water off of the ship and froze the three men where they stood.

"On to the giant flying bison." I ordered my voice slightly slurred due to the hit I got.

Sokka easily lifted one of my arms around his shoulder as he led me up Appa's tail. I collapsed into the saddle.

"Yip, yip! Yip, yip!" Sokka yelled.

Appa eagerly took off.

A giant fireball flew at us but Aang used a burst of wind to send it into the iceberg knocking it to the ship below.

I finally allowed myself to give into the pull and fell asleep still leaning against Sokka's shoulder.


	5. Temple Troubles

**PARADOX**

**Chapter five: Temple Troubles**

I woke to the sound of a feminine scream. I peeled my heavy eyelids up, my head ached with my pulse and I struggled to sit up. I saw an angry Sokka trying to struggle out of his blue sleeping bag. I was propped against Appa's side and I had obviously been there for some time.

I groaned weakly.

"She's awake!" Aang cheered excitedly as he rushed over to my side.

I struggled to rise into a sitting position only to fall back against Appa exhausted. Why did I hurt so much? That right I had hit the metal of the railing really hard. I'm lucky I woke up in the first place. Sleeping with a concussion was a bad idea.

Aang leaned down beside me cradling my shoulders with his arm as he pulled me into a sitting position.

I grunted at the pain, trying to sit on my own only to collapse back into Aang.

"Sorry." I mutter tiredly.

"Its okay." Aang assured me before lifting me up into his arms easily and jumping backwards up onto Appa's back.

"You can sleep on the way. It will take about a hour to reach the Southern Air Temple." Aang said comfortingly. Sokka and Katara walked up Appa's tail like it was a ramp. Katara sat beside me and I leaned against her shoulder trying to stay awake.

"Go ahead and sleep." Katara whispered. I nodded reluctantly and fell into a light sleep.

Dream

_"Kovu! Kovu where are you?" I was surrounded by a dense mist. I couldn't see a foot in front of me. Kovu who had been by my side had suddenly disappeared. Now I was alone in the cold, wet, mist._

_"Kovu!" I yelled worried and scared. This place made shivers go down my spine._

_"He's not here." A strict but still kind voice said from behind me. I whirled around and stared in shock at the man. He was Fire Nation that was for sure. His hair was up in the traditional phoenix tail and he wore long formal robes. He had a thick white beard that matched the rest of his hair. His eyes were the traditional gold of the Fire Nation royals._

_"Avatar Roku?" I asked in shock. How was he here talking to me. I was just a waterbender. Not the Avatar, I had no special link to the Spirit world. So how was he here?_

_"Very good, Shannen. Or should I call you Kiara?" He asked as he came closer. The mist around us moved back some so we were in the only clear spot in the mist._

_"How...?" I trailed off, I wasn't sure which question I wanted to ask. How was he here? How did he know my name? How was I able to communicate with him_?

_He seemed to realize my dilemma._

_"You are here because I brought you to this world six years ago. I am able to talk to you because I used part of my spirit to bring you here and keep you here. A piece of me is inside of you anchoring you to this world. You are here because you were never appreciated at you home. You were the oldest child in a house full of children. Your grades, even though they were superb didn't get you recognition. Your singing didn't get you recognition. Nothing you did was ever really appreciated. You aced a test? Well your brothers did something stupid and your parents are too busy reprimanding them." Roku explained._

_I winced as the truth of his words hit me. I loved my parents, I really did but they were always too busy with the boys. Sometimes I wished I had asked my parents for a puppy instead of "someone to play with.". Of course they took that to mean a little sibling. Just my luck I get two for the price of one._

_"You are also here because you need to know about what will happen due to you housing a piece of my soul." Roku continued._

_I shuddered slightly at the sound of that. It sounded like a Horcrux from Harry Potter._

_"Its nothing malicious." Roku assured seeming to read my thoughts. "You will begin to gain the powers of an Avatar. They will be to a lower degree than Aang's powers but they will still be present. Unlike the true Avatar you will not be able to master all of the elements. You could probably manage two but you will never master them all." Roku explained._

_Well I had always loved challenges. And what's more of a challenge than doing the impossible. But just in case I would choose my two favorite elements to master. Water and Air._

_"I see you are going to attempt to master them all anyway. Very well. I wish you luck. You may tell your traveling companions of your origin and this conversation. It wouldn't do for them to grow suspicious of you." Roku said._

_"And now its time for you to wake up." Roku said even as the mist swirled away like tub water with the plug pulled._

End Dream

I sat up wide eyed. The rest of the Gaang was looking at me oddly. "Are you alright, Kiara?" Aang asked worried. I nodded before shaking my head.

"I had a dream. Roku was in it." I muttered softly.

"Whose Roku?" Sokka asked instantly suspicious.

"The Avatar before me/Aang." Both Aang and I chorused.

"No offense but if he was the Avatar before Aang he's dead." Sokka said trying to burst our bubble.

"Of course he is." I agreed easily. "I think he pulled me into the spirit world so he could talk to me." I explained.

Katara and Sokka looked sceptical. "Why would the past Avatar want to you?" Katara asked mistrustfully.

"Because he's the reason I'm here." I stated then launched into an explanation before they could interrupt.

An hour later after I finished my tale the group looked at me with shock.

"Let me get this straight. You're actually a twenty-four year old stuck in a thirteen year old body, you've come from a different universe and you will have some Avatar abilities." Sokka summed up.

"That's about it." I agreed.

There was a speechless silence before a large mountain range appeared out of the clouds. "The Patola Mountain Range! We're almost there!" Aang exclaimed.

"Aang, before we get there I want to warn you. The firebenders are ruthless, they killed my mother, they could've done the same to your people." Katara warned trying to warn Aang ahead of time.

"Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean there isn't any. They probably got away." Aang told Katara cheerfully.

We landed at the base of the temple and followed a long winding road up to the actual building.

Sokka grumbled about his hunger and Katara scolded him for not being more appriciative of the scenery.

"So there's where my friends and I would play airball. And there's where the bison would sleep. And..." Aang trailed off with a sigh. He had pointed to a field filled with poles first then a flat area then just dropped his hand as he sighed.

"What's wrong, Aang?" Katara asked.

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison, now its just a bunch of weeds." Aang said in a depressed tone.

"I can't believe how much things have changed." He finished.

"So how do you play this airball game." I asked before Sokka could get the chance.

Aang grinned and led us down to the field. Sokka and I stood at one end and Aang stood at the other. We were balanced precariously on the poles. Aang had the ball in his hand and showed off making it spin around his body with the air currents.

Aang threw the ball up in the air closing his eyes and opening them just a tad to peek as he spun around and kicked the ball towards us. It ricocheted off of the poles as it continued to come at us. I took a deep breath and kicked at the ball knocking it back towards Aang. It bounced much slower against the poles than Aang's had but it still returned to him.

Aang kicked it back and this time it hit Sokka in the gut and knocked him through the 'goal'. Ouch. I thought to myself watching him hit a mound of snow. "Aang:7, Sokka and Kiara:0!" Aang cheered joyfully.

I saw the siblings squabbling and then Katara used waterbending to hide something under the snow, after calling Aang over.

"What?" Aang asked.

"Just a new waterbending move I wanted you to see." Katara lied.

"Cool, but enough practicing, there's a whole temple to see." Aang said cheerfully as he led us away.

Sokka hissed something under his breath at Katara and she hissed something in return. I ignored them and followed Aang closely.

"Hey guys! I want you to meet somebody." Aang said standing in front of a wooden statue of a man in a meditation pose.

"Whose that?" Katara asked.

"This is Monk Gyatso, the greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know." Aang said cheerfully before drifting off in a memory no one but himself could see. His face fell in a longing and sad look.

"You must miss him." Katara said.

"Yeah." Aang said as he started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Katara asked following me.

"The air temple sanctuary. There's somebody I'm ready to meet." Aang said.

"No one could survive in there for a hundred years." Katara protested.

"Its not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long."

"Good point."

"Whoever is in there might be able to help me with this Avatar thing." Aang said eagerly.

"And whoever is in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats." Sokka said eagerly running into the door.

"You're missing an important point." I told Sokka blandly.

"What?" Sokka asked.

"This temple belonged to monks." I told him, "monks treasure all life, they don't eat meat." I finished when I saw he didn't get it.

"No meat?" Sokka yelled incredulously.

Aang had meanwhile opened the door. The door whistled with the air running through it.

We walked into the room and was greeted with the sight of hundreds of statues. Aang walked to the latest one in the line and stared in its eyes. The statue's eyes flashed blue along with Aang's eyes.

"Aang!" Katara yelled shaking his shoulder.

"Huh, what?" Aang asked coming back to himself.

"Who's that?" Katara asked.

"That's avatar Roku. The avatar before me." Aang answered.

A long shadow cast into the room.

"Firebender!" Sokka hissed as we hid behind the statue. Sokka held his club up and then a lemur was revealed in the light.

"Lemur!" Aang shouted excitedly.

"Dinner!" Sokka yelled.

"Don't listen to him you're going to be my new pet." Aang said.

"Not if I get him first." Sokka countered as both boys rushed out to follow the lemur. I followed quickly. Katara stayed behind to stare at the statues.

I made it to the bottom of the mountain just as Aang entered the Avatar state. I dropped to my stomach and crawled towards him to avoid being blown off the mountain by the wind. I stood up as soon as I reached Aang and held onto his waist tightly. Katara soon joined me and we got Aang to stop hovering.

"I know you're upset. I know it hurts to lose the ones you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mother. But you're not alone. Me, Sokka and Kiara, we're your family now." Aang collapsed into our arms.

"They really were here. I really am the last airbender." Aang said sadly.

"No you're not. I can learn airbending too. Then we'll only be the second to last airbenders." I tried to encourage him.

Aang smiled gratefully.

A while later we had Appa packed up and Sokka had gotten some fruit given to him by Momo, Aang's new pet.

We were flying away when I realized that I was happy. I was completely content. That hadn't happened in such a long time I almost didn't recognize the feeling.

I leaned back in the saddle and drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.


	6. Women Warriors

**PARADOX**

**Chapter six: Women Warriors**

**(A/N: (first one in the whole story) There is some minor mental swearing.) (This chapter is dedicated to nicky122 because she's the only one who reviewed my last chapter.)**

"Are we there yet?" Sokka whined irritably from where he was sitting his torso draped over the side of the saddle looking down.

"Yes, we're there. That's why we landed." I said sarcastically watching the clouds float by. Why was Sokka so stupid?

"I'm hungry." Sokka whined.

I sighed. "Get over it." I muttered nearly inaudably under my breath.

Katara was hunched over her brother's torn pants trying to sew a huge hole back together. How Sokka had gotten a hole that big in the butt of his pants I will never know.

"Momo, marble please." Aang requested. Momo instantly reached into Aang's clothes and pulled out a marble dropping it in Aang's palm.

"Hey, Katara watch this." Aang ordered cheerfully as he made the marble spin clockwise rapidly around in a circle above his palm.

"That's great Aang." Katara said not looking up from her work.

"You didn't even look." Aang protested looking for all intents and purposes like a dog that got kicked. Or rather a polar bear dog, they don't have normal dogs here.

"That's great!" Katara blurted with fake enthusiasm as she looked up from her work for just a second before going back to it.

"I wasn't doing it anymore." Aang mutter dejectedly.

"Leave her alone, Airhead. You need to leave women alone when they're doing women work." Sokka said.

I instantly glared at him, followed shortly by Katara.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara demanded throwing her work down.

"Nothing, women are just better at cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Men are better at hunting and fighting and stuff, its the natural order of things." Sokka said and I felt like punching the sexist bastard.

Katara threw his pants back at him. "I'm done with your pants, and look what a good job I did." Katara said sarcastically.

"Katara!" Sokka whined sticking his hand through the large hole that still remained in his pants. "I can't wear these like this."

"Not until you say girls can do anything boys can do better." I interjected. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the person providing for the village for the past two years me?" I asked sharply.

Sokka looked at a loss for words.

"That's doesn't count. You were doing it under the name of a spirit, and you probably used your bending." Sokka protested.

"Excuse me?" I protested. "I spent a year and a half without even knowing I could bend. I caught all the food I had with my own hands and what weapons that were suited for hunting." I objected hotly.

"That's okay Sokka, where we're going you won't need pants." Aang said cheerfully from Appa's head.

"I suddenly don't want to go where we're going." I muttered sarcastically.

"Where are we going anyway? And why is it taking so long?" Sokka asked.

"We're going to Kyoshi. The bay there has Giant Koi fish. They're fun to ride." Aang said cheerfully ignoring the second question.

"You don't know where we're going do you?" Sokka asked sceptically looking over the map.

"I know its near water." Aang said cheerfully.

Which was an obvious yes. We had been flying over the ocean for the past three hours or so.

"We must be close." I said sarcastically looking at the ocean below us.

"There it is!" Aang cheered when he saw the cove of the small island take shape out of the surrounding ocean.

Appa landed and I instantly slid off of his back.

"Hey Aang?" I asked watching him pull down his pants leaving him in a pair of burnt orange underwear as he hopped around taking his shirt off as he tried to kick his pants away from around his ankles.

"Yeah," Aang asked giving me half of his attention. The other half still focused on removing his garments.

"Can you teach me airbending?" I asked. "I can teach you and Katara what I know about waterbending." I bargained.

"Sure!" Aang chirped cheerfully. "After I ride the Elephant Koi." Aang bargained as he jumped into the cold water in a perfect dive.

"Cold!" He shrieked jumping out of the water like one of the fish he was hoping to ride.

Cold? No kidding? Water close to the South Pole is cold? Who would have thought? I thought sarcastically. I was in a sarcastic mood today.

Aang swam out a good distance before diving under and coming back up on the back of an orange and white fish. He held onto the spin and rode it like a surfer rides a surf board.

Appa started eating some strange looking red and green plant and Katara quickly went to stop him. Aang looked over just as Katara left and held a disappointed look on his face.

A large black spiked fin came out from underneath the water behind Aang's mount. It acted just like a sharks dorsal fin.

All that was need was the Jaws theme song and we had the makings of a horror movie.

We instantly began waving and yelling for Aang to get out of the water. He thought we were just waving and waved back as he continued riding the currently in danger fish.

He was knocked off of the fish and into the water. The monster loomed over Aang, Aang looked up at the creature that had cast him into shadow and his mouth fell open in horror. He immediately began running on top of the water sending a spray on either side of him.

He ran right onto the beach and into me. I hit a tree hard with my back, Aang pinned to my front.

I whimpered at the pain. "Ow, Aang please get off." I pleaded as tears of pain collected in the corners of my eyes.

Aang hops up worriedly. "Are you okay, Kiara?" Aang asked apprehensively.

I twitched each of my limbs before attempting to get up. "I think s-ow!" I shouted as I collapsed into Aang's arms which had snapped up instinctively to catch me.

I whimpered in pain as I leaned heavily against Aang's chest. He was a couple inches shorter than me so it was awkward to say the least.

Aang maneuvered me around so I was sitting with my back to his chest as he leaned against the tree he had smashed me into.

"What was that thing?" Aang asked as soon as he was sure I was as comfortable as I could get.

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out. I think we should leave." Sokka said as he began to pack what little they had taken off of Appa's saddle.

Before we knew what was happening we were all bound and blindfolded.

I yelped in pain as the warriors didn't bother being gentle.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang demanded from somewhere on my left.

The warriors didn't say anything but I was picked up more gently, bridal style instead of being tossed over one their shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I felt myself set down lightly on my stomach not on my sore back. I twitched to see how much maneuverability I had. The had tied my wrists and elbows together behind my back. I twitched my fingers to see if I could then concentrated mentally on finding liquid around me.

I focused on the moist air and tried to force the molecules of water to bind together.

I paid half of my attention to that task and the rest on the warriors who were standing in front of us if my instincts were to be believed.

"Or we could stay awhile." Sokka sighed.

I felt myself lifted up and tied to a pole. I squirmed uncomfortably as my sore back rubbed against the wood of whatever we were tied against.

"You four have a lot of explaining to do." An old man's voice said, it was deep and reverbrated with authority.

"And if you don't answer our questions, we'll throw you back to the Unagi." A woman's voice continued.

They named the damned monster?

"Show yourself cowards!" Sokka yelled out bravely (coughstupidlycough).

The blindfolds were torn away and light instantly blinded me for a second. Then I blinked the tears clear and we were facing a crowd of green adorned women with make-up and armor on. There was also a crowd of civilians behind the women and one man that stood beside the obvious leader of the women.

"Who are you? Where are the men that ambushed us?" Sokka demanded stupidly.

"Idiot." I muttered. "They're wearing armor and the civilians are a safe distance behind them. Its obvious they are the warriors." I said.

"There is no way a bunch of girls beat us." Sokka said his macho pride choosing the wrong moment to assert itself.

"A bunch of girls, huh." The leader of the warriors said grabbing Sokka by the front of his shirt. "The Unagi will eat well tonight." She said.

"No! Don't hurt him, my brother's an idiot sometimes." Katara pleaded.

"Sometimes?" I mutter just loud enough for the crowd to hear me. Some of them broke into giggles.

"Its my fault." Aang instantly took the blame. "I wanted to ride the elephant koi." he explained.

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" The old man demanded. "Kyoshi's stayed out of the war so far and we plan to keep it that way."

"Because we haven't burnt the ropes off of us and escaped yet? Because we have a flying bison which are air nomad animals? Because we look nothing like Fire Nation citizens? Because Aang has airbender tattoos? Because..." A hand was placed over my mouth keeping me from adding anymore reasons.

"This island is named after Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang said eagerly.

"Impossible, Avatar Kyoshi was born here nearly four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries." The man said.

"I know here because I was her. I'm the Avatar." Aang said reverting to the trump card.

"Impossible," The woman claimed. "The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me." Aang said cheerfully.

"Throw the imposters to the Unagi." the man ordered.

"Aang do some airbending." Katara hissed at him from where she was tied.

Aang jumped up enhancing his jump with airbending cutting the ropes that held him to the statue of Kyoshi we were tied to.

The crowd instantly gasps and Aang uses this opportunity to show off his marble trick.

One man in the crowd instantly began to spaz out and fell to the ground with foam coming out of his mouth.

We were untied and led to a place to stay for a while.

"You wouldn't happen to have a doctor?" I asked the warrior who had escorted us to our sleeping quarters.

"Of course, follow me." The woman said helpfully.

She led me to a small healing hut near the edge of the village. She explained that I needed medical care and that I was with the Avatar and he fell over himself to help.

I explained about my back injury and he put a cream on it to sooth the pain and carefully wrapped my back so it wouldn't get infected.

I thanked him for his help and went back to the place we were given.

I fell asleep on my stomach instead of my side like I usually did. The next morning I woke in pain and realized I must've rolled onto my sore back.

I grumbled irritably as I sat up trying not to strain my back too much. I finally managed to get up and walk to the dining area. There was a long table set up with all sorts of dessert-type foods. Pastries, tarts, cookies, cakes, and a lot of other stuff I couldn't even name.

Aang was cheerfully eating a pastry with yellow frosting and Katara had helped herself to one with pink frosting. Sokka was sulking in a corner and not eating anything.

"What's wrong, Sokka?"Aang demanded. "Eat." He ordered cheerfully. Sokka merely slid farther down in his seat.

"I'm not hungry." He muttered sullenly.

"But you're always hungry." I pointed out helpfully from where I was leaning against the door frame.

"He's upset a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." Katara said smugly.

"They snuck up on me." Sokka protested loudly.

"And then kicked your butt." I inserted.

"Sneak attacks don't count," He countered before getting to his feet and storming out the door. Only to come back in a minute later and grabbing a whole tray of desserts.

"What's he so angry about? They're giving us the royal treatment." Aang asked

"Don't get too comfortable. We have to leave soon." Katara cautioned.

"We'll be fine. Look how happy I'm making the town. They're even cleaning up Kyoshi's statue." Aang pointed out.

It was true. They had put a fresh coat of paint on the statue just this morning.

"Aang, don't let the attention go to your head." I warned.

"Aw, Kiara you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk." Aang said.

A fan girl squeal broke us out of our conversation.

"Go and play with your fans." Katara encouraged.

"Thanks!" Aang shouted back at her as he ran out the door.

I plopped myself in the seat he had vacated and grabbed a few of the familiar looking pastries ignoring the more exotic ones for now.

"I'm going out for a bit." Katara said.

I nodded. And continued with my breakfast.

I finished eating and sighed. Where was Aang? He said he'd teach me airbending.

I decided to walk around while I waited for Aang to return. Maybe I could get some waterbending practice in and try to use earth and air bending without guidance.

I wrote a quick note in the characters of the local written language, it was Chinese or something close to it. I had managed to learn it through sheer luck and necessity. Going out to practice, see you later. It was short and to the point.

I left the house. Momo chirped inquisitively and then laid back down for a nap after his meal.

I walked out towards the Unagi's bay and stood on the beach. I had discarded my shoes a few feet back on the drier sand and had dug my toes in the cold wet sand that was lapped with a fresh wave every so often.

I closed my eyes concentrating on my other senses. I could feel the clumps of wet sand, much bigger than individual grains, between my toes. The chilly breeze that carried the scent of sea water and pine to my face. My hair which I had in a low ponytail, with my bangs free blew in the light wind. The soft lapping sounds as the water scrapped the beach with eager waves only to draw back when it lost its momentum and had to try again.

I took several deep breaths focusing on each element I could feel. The sun's warm poured down on me, the source of firebending. The sand shifted under my feet as I shifted my weight but there was an underlying sturdiness to it, earth. The waves brushed against my toes, pushing and pulling itself up and down the shore, water. The breeze caressed my face like a gentle touch of a child's curious fingers, air. And there was an underlying connection. I could feel the water jump up every so often with the waves, the air would catch some of the spray spreading it farther so it landed higher up on the beach, and as soon as the water would land it would be evaporated just as quickly as it had appeared.

I opened my eyes and my connection dulled until I almost couldn't feel it, but I did.

I took a stance I had seen Aang take during the fight with Zuko on his ship. I took a deep breath and started to follow the motions I had seen. I concentrated on getting the motions right ignoring the bending aspect of the practice until I was more comfortable with the physical movement required.

I practiced the movement until it was nearly instinctual. When I finally looked up I noticed the sun had risen nearly to the top of its course. It had been a few hours, two or three. That should be enough practice with the movements. Now to test if I could actually use the element. I took a deep breath and visualized the result I wanted as I pushed my arm forward.

A small burst of air pulsed from my outstretched hand before dissipating only six inches away.

Well, at least I could do it. Even if it would be useless at its current strength.

I took a seat on the beach letting my feet get wet with the bay's water. I made a swirling gesture with my hand collecting some water out of the atmosphere and taking a small sip out of the globe that hovered just above my palm.

It looked the the one YouTube video I watched about eating in zero gravity. It was actually really cool.

I stared out at the bay, the elephant koi were jumping out of the water every so often racing each other. The Unagi wasn't visible but I knew it was there and waiting for someone stupid enough to get close.

That's when I saw Aang with his fan club cheering him on. He was swimming out into the bay. And I nearly slapped my forehead with exasperation. That's right, Aang tries to show off to Katara. I ran to the portion of the beach where Aang's fan club stood.

"Aang! Get out of there!" I yelled.

"Aang!" Katara called.

"Katara! You came." Aang said cheerfully.

"What am I chopped liver?" I muttered under my breath.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." Katara continued, she hadn't heard me.

"Back there you acted like you didn't care." Aang said.

"I'm sorry." Katara said simply.

"Me too, I let all the attention get to my head, I was acting like a jerk." Aang replied.

"Well get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk." Katara called jokingly.

"I'm coming." Aang replied as he began swimming back to shore.

The Unagi's fin appeared behind Aang and I couldn't hold back a gasp. The Unagi got under Aang then came above the water. It was a giant black eel like creature. It looked down at Aang and shot a blast of water from its mouth at Aang trying to dislodge him from its back.

Aang was holding onto the fin of the Unagi for dear life and it lunged at him trying to eat him. Aang grabbed hold of one of the creatures whiskers and held on screaming as the Unagi shook its head trying to dislodge him.

Aang flew off of the Unagi's head and landed several yards from where we stood still in the water.

"Aang!" Katara called worriedly.

I shucked off my upper coat and pants leaving me in a two piece swimsuit I had made with extra cloth from the ship. I dove into the water and swam towards Aang with large powerful strokes. As soon as I grabbed him I used my waterbending to make us a raft out of ice. I then used waterbending to push the craft to shore at double quick pace.

We reached the shallow waters and the Unagi glared from where it had stopped in the still deep water.

I drove the raft right onto the beach and pulled Aang onto the sand.

"Aang, wake up." Katara begged from where she kneeled on the other side of Aang.

I thought of something and opened Aang's mouth gently and coaxed the water from his lungs with waterbending.

Aang woke up groggily after he took his first gasp of air.

"Kiara, Katara, don't ride the Unagi, not fun." He muttered weakly.

Katara laughed weakly with relief.

I looked away as they had their romantic moment and spotted Zuko's small war ship.

"Guys, Zuko's here." I warned.

They instantly looked up at me then where I was staring.

"We need to get back to the village." Katara said.

Both Aang and I nodded and followed Katara back to the village.

When we reached the village it was on fire. Zuko was in the main square.

"Where are you, Avatar?" Zuko called. "These little girls can't protect you." He said.

"Here I am!" Aang called jumping down so he landed in front of Zuko.

Katara ran to retrieve Appa and our supplies. I jumped down next to Aang calling water straight from the air to collect in a bubble around my hands. I froze the water into claws and stood in a defensive position next to Aang.

"Kiara, I'll handle it." Aang said.

I hesitantly took as few steps to the side so I was out of the way but close enough to help if they needed it.

I watched with apprehension as Aang fought Zuko, I was worried he would get hurt. I almost didn't notice the firebender sneak up behind me. I whipped around slashing my hand at him. It screeched loudly as it scrapped across the metal of his armor.

I jumped back to give myself some breathing room. He shot a fire ball at me and I dodged to the side. I melted the ice around my hands and flung it in a whip at the soldier's head. He was caught by surprise and fell backwards knocking his head against the wall of the house we were next to.

He stayed down.

I crept closer putting my fingers over his vein in his wrist. The pulse was weak but it was still there.

I sighed with relief. I didn't want to be a killer.

Aang blasted Zuko through a house with airbending then we were on Appa flying over the bay.

Aang looked back at the burning village sadly and before we could stop him dived into the water below us. He came back up on top of the Unagi and forced it to spray the village with water, thus putting out the fires.

Aang landed back on the saddle and got scolded then kissed on the cheek by Katara.

I sighed. I didn't have anyone. I wish I could find someone for me. Sokka belonged with Suki and Aang with Katara. So I was going to be the odd one out.

"Hey Aang, you promised you would teach me airbending." I reminded.

Aang cheerfully showed me how to do his marble trick and several other small bending exercise I could do on Appa's back.

And we sat quietly all the way to where ever Aang was taking us next.

**A/N: I believe this is my longest chapter to date. I changed the summary tell me if you like this one better. Please review. It let's me know people like the story. Even if its just a word. Please?**


	7. Crazy King

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Seven: Crazy King**

**A/N: I updated my last chapter a little early, I think. So from now on I'll just update when I get the chapters done. I'll try to keep it within two days though, k? Love to all of my reviewers.**

Appa landed on a hill just out of sight of Omashu. We walked up a hill and looked down at the magnificent city. There were large walls made of stone and rock.

"Welcome to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu," Aang introduced dramatically.

"I used to come here to visit my friend Bumi." He continued.

We looked down the winding road to the large city in awe.

"Wow, we don't have buildings like this in the South Pole." Katara said stunned.

"They have buildings that don't melt." Sokka added.

"Of course they don't, the weather changes more up here than in the South Pole." I said. "This is nothing compared to what my world had as buildings though." I said fading back into my memories for a while. "In my world the buildings are made of wood, metal, brick, drywall and glass." I said.

"What's dry-wall?" Katara asked fascinated.

"Its a plaster put in between two pieces of paper, its sort of like parchment except easier to make and less expensive." I explained before she could ask what paper was.

"Come on slowpokes." Aang cajoled.

Aang started to airbend himself down the hill but Katara called out and stopped him.

"Wait Aang, someone might recognize you."

"You need a disguise." Sokka agreed.

"What am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" Aang asked obviously sarcastically.

I didn't bother to hide my grin as Katara made Aang a mustache and hair out of Appa's fur.

"Ugh, this is so itchy!" Aang complained scratching his head. "How do you live in this stuff?" He asked turning to Appa. Appa huffed a puff of air out of his nose in response.

"Great now you look just like my grandfather." Sokka said.

"Aang is technically 112 years old." Katara pointed out.

Aang spun his staff around before putting one end against the ground and leaning on it like it was a cane or crutch.

"Let's get going whippersnappers. The city awaits." Aang said forcing his voice to sound like an old man's.

I giggled. I followed him easily down the hill. Katara and Sokka followed behind me.

"Aang, give me your pack." I ordered before we got to the bottom of the hill. "You're acting as an old man, they won't expect you to carry your own stuff." I explained when he looked at me weird.

He shrugged in agreement and handed the empty pack over to me. I slipped the strap over my shoulder and walked slightly ahead of Aang looking back every so often as if to make sure 'my grandfather' didn't fall. I had frequently done the same thing for my own grandmother so it was easy to fall back into the practice. Several steps, look over shoulder, then several more steps when I was sure everything was okay.

"You guys will love Omashu, they have some of the nicest people in the world." Aang said as we approached the gate.

We reached the gate just as the guard earthbended a poor merchants cabbages off of the narrow walk way that lead to the city gates.

"My cabbages!" The man shouted as he looked despairingly at where his cabbages had disappeared over the edge of the path. We followed his gaze.

"Just keep smiling." Aang instructed out of the corner of his mouth as we approached the guard.

"State your business." The guard ordered levitating a boulder over our heads. I looked up at the boulder than at the side of the path trying to decide which death I preferred if something went wrong.

Aang ran right up to the man's face shaking a finger in his face. "My business is my business, young man." Aang said. The man dropped the boulder to the side of the path in shock. "Why I have half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside." Aang threatened.

I bit my lip to stop a giggle.

"Settle down, old timer." The guard tried to 'calm' Aang down. "Just tell me who you are." He said.

"Name's Bonzu Pippenpaddleopsocopulous...the third!" Aang said loudly. "And these are my grandkids." He said pointing to us.

"Hi, June Pippenpaddleopsocopulous. Nice to meet you." Katara said using a fake name as well.

The man rubbed his beard looking between Aang, Katara, Sokka, and myself. "You two look like responsible young ladies." He said pointing to Katara and me. "See that your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu." He said using earthbending to open the gate.

"We will." Katara answered.

We entered the city with no further problems. We all stared in awe of the city.

I saw carts falling down giant slides.

"That's the Omashu delivery system." Aang said noticing where my attention was at. "Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down. There are miles and miles of tubes and shoots."

"So they get their mail on time, big deal." Sokka said.

"They do." Aang agreed with Sokka. "But my friend Bumi found a better use for the shoots." He smiled deviously. "Come on."

I nervously stepped back. "I think, I'll go get us supplies." I said nervously backing up.

Aang grabbed my arm before I got more than two feet away and dragged me after the group as they went to the top of the shoots.

I looked down nervously. "Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." I objected.

Aang had already ushered both Sokka and Katara into the back of the large boxes. He pulled me into the box. I was squashed between Aang and Katara. Aang being in the very front, me in the second spot, Katara in the third spot and Sokka in the very back. It was a tight fit.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts." Katara said voicing the very thought that was on my mind.

Aang ignored her and used a blast of air to push us down the shoot.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Katara, Sokka, and I screamed in fear. I clutched the material of Aang's shawl and shirt tightly closing my eyes and burying my face in his back.

I didn't want to see what was happening.

Aang was laughing in delight.

I opened my eyes once I thought we were stable only to see the lane next to ours was carrying a box of pointy spears and worse yet the lane merged into ours just a short way in front of us.

I sobbed in fear burying my face back in Aang's back.

By the time we reached the bottom and crashed into the cabbage man's cart, I was in tears. We were surrounded instantly by guards. The were noticeably more gentle with me than the others. Probably thought I would have an emotional breakdown if they did the slightest thing to push me.

We were lead to the throne room tears drying on my face and I was still whimpering at the fear that still remained. Before we reached the room I finally collapsed in shock. The guard who was leading me was fast enough to catch me before I hit the ground and easily lifted me into his arms bridal style.

He carried me the rest of the way. I was set down gently next to the rest of the Gaang when we were forced to kneel in front of the king.

"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages." One of the guards stated.

"Off with there heads! One for each head of cabbages!" The cabbage man called from where he stood.

"Silence. Only the king can pass judgement." The one guard said. He turned to the king. "What is your judgement, sire?" He asked.

The king stared down at us intently. He stared at Aang the longest, then stared at the tear stains on my face and then at Katara and Sokka.

"Throw them..." He started. Katara, Sokka and Aang gasped thinking the worst.

"...A feast." He finished.

All the guards as well as the cabbage man stood open mouthed. Katara, Sokka and Aang also looked confused.

I wiped my face free of tears using a sleeve of my newly re-made clothes. I had gotten rid of most of the thicker layers leaving me in a long sleeved tee-shirt type shirt and a pair of slacks with knee high boots made of Carribou-goat leather.

We were led to a large dinning hall. The room had a large table set and loaded with a large amount of food. The king ordered four chairs to be put at the end of the table for our group. Momo was already on the table eating whatever he could get his paws on.

The king stood right behind our chairs. "The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin." He said picking up a piece of chicken from Aang's plate.

"Thanks, but I don't eat meat." Aang said politely.

"How about you, I bet you like meat." The king said stuffing the chicken leg in Sokka's mouth. Sokka nodded as he took a big bite out of the chicken.

The king walked around and sat on the other side of the table.

Katara whispered something about the king's crown being crooked to Aang.

I ignored her and loaded my plate with whatever food was in reach. I ate as the king asked Aang where he came from.

Aang answered with Kangaroo Island. And the king made a lame joke about the place being really hopping.

Sokka actually laughed but he had a weird sense of humor.

The king yawned like he was tired turning slightly only to turn and throw something directly at Aang. Before it reached him I created a whip out of my drinking water grabbing the chicken leg right out of the air and bringing it to my hand.

"You don't want this do you Aang?" I asked politely. When he shook his head no I took a bite out of it.

"Ah, a waterbender. A master if I had to guess." Bumi said. I looked up at his voice. I swallowed the bite I had in my mouth before speaking.

"I wouldn't know. I'm self-taught." I said taking a sip of my water.

Before I could register what was happening two more chicken legs flew through the air, one towards me and one towards Aang. My water leaped to catch the legs at a twitch of my finger but Aang's chicken leg reached him before I could catch it. He ended up catching it with his airbending.

The guards gasped.

"There is an airbender in our presence," The king announced. "And not just any airbender, the Avatar." He stood for a moment before sitting back down. "Now what do you have to say for yourself Mr. Pippenpaddleopsocopulous?" He asked.

Aang stood up followed by Katara and Sokka. I grabbed an apple and stood up as well.

Aang tried to BS his way out saying he was doing a check-up to make sure the city was safe. We ended up backing right into a pair of crossed spears.

"You can't keep us here. Let us leave." Katara demanded.

"Lettuce leaf?" The king asked, picking up a piece of said vegetable and taking a bite.

"We're in serious trouble, this guy is nuts." Sokka declared.

I sighed. "He just thinks outside the box." I said loud enough for the whole room to hear.

"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges." The king declared. "But for now the guards will show you to your chambers."

"My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" The guard asked.

"The newly refurbished chamber." He answered.

"Wait, which chamber are we talking about?" The guard asked still confused.

"The chamber that used to be bad until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course we've been calling it the new chamber but we really should number them." He mused.

"Take the Avatar and the two water tribe members to the newly refurbished chamber that was once bad." Three guards led the rest of the group away much to there protest.

"What about this one?" The guard asked as if I wasn't there.

"I want to have a discussion with this young lady. You can take her to the chambers after we're done talking." The king said.

The king went back to his seat at the table and motioned me to sit as well. I politely sat myself down across from him with the long table separating us.

Then he proceeded to question me with a myriad of questions. So many that I lost track.

What was my name? Where did I come from? How did I come to travel with the Avatar? Why was I crying when I was brought in?

He seemed really interested when I told him about our super slide ride.

Finally an hour later he allowed a guard to lead me to the chamber that contained my friends.

"Kiara!" Aang and Katara yelled as soon as I entered the room.

"Are you okay?

"What did the king want?"

"What took so long?"

The questions came on relentlessly.

I held up one hand in a 'stop' motion and took a seat on one of the four beds.

"I'm fine. To talk. We were talking." I answered the questions in order.

"Kiara?" Katara asked looking at me.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Why were you crying earlier."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Mmmmmmph" I mumbled inaudibly.

"I didn't hear you." Katara said.

"I'm afraid of heights." I finally blurted out before burying my face in the pillow on my bed.

"How were you able to ride Appa?" Sokka interrupted.

"When we fly on Appa we're surrounded by clouds, which are made of water. We are also usually above the ocean. Both of which I can control with my bending and save myself if necessary." I explained.

"We better get some sleep." Aang said after a long awkward silence.

We all muttered in agreement.

I fell asleep first and knew no more until morning. I was woken by the sound of rock sliding against more rock. I bolted into a sitting position and stared at the place where the guard had made a door appear yesterday. It was open admitting three guards. I opened my mouth to warn the others and my mouth was quickly covered as I was wrestled silently out of the room.

I squirmed uncomfortably pressed against the guard's chest and finally getting tired of being dragged kicked backwards hitting the man in the nuts. He instantly dropped me and held on to his package.

"Ugh." The man groaned. The other guards turned at the sound and noticed the man's condition and winced in sympathy.

They quickly stomped on the ground and a cage of stone rose up around me. I drew water out of the air and tried to cut the stone with water. The guard I had kicked finally gotten back up and grabbed me with one of his hands on my wrists, and another on the back of my neck like a person grabs the scruff of a puppies neck.

I was dragged to a hallway with Sokka and Katara. We stood there in silence. I was once again in a cage made of earth. Apparently the guard didn't trust me.

The wall finally opened revealing an arena with the king and Aang facing off.

"...so I will give your friends special souvenirs." The king finished whatever he had been telling Aang.

My guard reached into the cage and grabbed my hand forcing a red ring onto my pointer finger. I glared at him even after he let my hand go. I was still in a cage.

"Now that's odd," The king said. "I didn't order a cage..." He trailed off as he stared at me.

"Your guard is just a wuss. Can't take a measly little kick to the nuts..." I said with a pout.

Almost every male in the area winced. Sokka was too busy staring at his ring in horror. It had grown an inch.

"Those rings are made of pure gennemite, also known as creeping crystal." the king said.

I humphed and stuck my finger in my mouth chomping on the ring hardly. It cracked loudly a piece breaking off into my mouth. I took my finger out of my mouth and worked on finishing the piece I already had.

Sokka and Katara meanwhile was trying to pry his ring off with pure force.

"The crystal grows remarkably fast, by nightfall your friends will be covered in it." The king said "Terrible fate, I can stop it... but only if you cooperate."

Aang agreed easily with our lives at stake.

The first task he had to retrieve a lunch box key that was in the middle of a waterfall. I was trying to eat my ring before it covered me. It was only half working. Sokka and Katara's whole arms up to their shoulders were covered. Mine only covered up to my forearm.

The second task Aang had to retrieve the kings pet Floppsy. Which turned out to be a giant rabbit, goat, gorilla, creature, thing. The crystal covered Sokka and Katara all the way across the torso and down to their knees. Mine had managed to creep its way over across my shoulders and down my other arm.

The third task, Aang had to choose a person to battle. He picked the king who turned out to be super buff and strong. Which just goes to show looks can be deceiving. Sokka and Katara barely had their face showing and my crystal was acting as a totally uncomfortable dress.

The king let Aang get him in a stalemate then fell backwards into a hole that looked just like his outline. He reappeared next to us like a ninja.

"You've passed all my tests, now you must answer one last question. What...is my name?" the king said.

"You said you'd let my friends go if I completed your tests." Aang protested.

"Aww. But what's the point of test if you don't learn anything from it?" He asked.

"By the looks of your friends you only have a few minutes." He said glancing at Sokka and Katara, stopping his gaze on me in surprise.

"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang asked.

"Think about the tests, maybe its some kind of riddle." Katara suggested.

"I got it!" Sokka yelled.

Katara and Aang looked at him expectantly.

"He's an earthbender right? Rocky, because of all the rocks." Sokka said.

He is such an idiot.

"We're going to keep trying but that's a good back up." Katara said.

If I had a hand free I would slap myself in the forehead.

"Okay so back to the challenges," Aang said. "I got a key from a waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel."

"But what did you learn?" Katara asked.

"Well, everything was different then I expected." he said. "Nothing was straight forward, to solve the test I had to thing differently than I normally would." Aang trailed off.

He looked up with a smile on his face. "I know his name."

We were back in the room we first met the king. He was sitting on his throne but he stood as Aang approached.

"I solve the question the same way I solved the challenges." Aang proclaimed. "As you said a long time ago, I had to open my mind to the possibilities."

The king laughed crazily a snort coming out every other laugh.

"Bumi, you're a mad genius." Aang declared as he raced to give his old friend a hug.

"Oh, Aang, it's good to see you." Bumi said. "You haven't changed a bit, literally."

"Uh, over here?" Katara called.

"Little help?" Sokka added.

Bumi raised his hand and yanked it back toward him.

The crystals that had been encasing us shattered. Bumi caught a piece of Katara's gennemite and took a big bite.

"Gennemite made of rock candy. Delicious." He said.

"So this crazy old king is your old friend Bumi?" Katara asked

"Who you calling old?" Bumi said before thinking about it. "Okay, I'm old."

"Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you are?" Sokka asked.

"First of all, its pretty fun messing with people." Bumi laughed.

"But I do have a second reason. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. You're gonna need your friends to help you. Even Momo." Bumi added as he saw Momo pick up a piece of gennemite.

I bent down and grabbed an armload of the red gennemite I had been covered with gaining an odd look from Sokka, Katara, and Aang.

"Who knows when we're going to get this much free candy again." I told them. "Plus, sucking on a piece of candy will stave off hunger for a while." I added when the didn't look convinced.

Aang turned back to Bumi. "Thank you for your wisdom, but before we go I have a challenge for you." Aang told his old friend.

Katara, Sokka, and I watched from a safe distance as Bumi and Aang went down the mail delivery system.

A scream of "MY CABBAGES!" followed a cloud of dust as Aang and Bumi crashed into the same cabbage man's cart.

I shook my head in exasperation. Aang was still a kid no matter what his destiny.


	8. Prison Break

**PARADOX**

**Chapter eight: Prison Break**

"What do ya got?" I asked as Sokka came back from his foraging.

"We got several options, first round-shaped nuts, then some oval-shaped nuts, and some rock-shaped nuts that may just be rocks." he said throwing aforementioned rock-shaped nuts on the ground off to the side.

"No seriously, what do you got?" Katara said as if he was pranking us.

"That's all." He said.

I groaned. "You are the worst hunter/scavenger ever." I said.

Sokka looked at me with a hurt look on his face.

Momo had picked up the small 'rock-shaped nut that might just be a rock' and hit it against a real rock hard.

There was a thud and a tremor.

Momo looked shocked and surprised and lightly tapped the rock with the other rock just as another boom and a tremor came. Momo dropped the rock and flew to the safety of Aang's shoulders.

"Its coming from over there!" Katara yelled following the sound. "Shouldn't we be running away from the thing making the big booms?" Sokka asked.

I shrugged. I was never one for many words. Even before I had been dumped in the artic by myself.

I followed at a more sedate pace than Aang and Katara had took off running. We got to the place just as the boy ran away. Katara mumbled that she just wanted to say hello.

"That guys got to be running somewhere. There must be a village near here." Aang said optimistically.

So we all ran towards the town because no one wanted to eat the nuts Sokka collected.

Aang traded some of the nuts for a conical hat. It covered his arrow so none of us complained about not getting anything.

Katara found the earthbending boy's house and we found out that the Fire Nation had taken over this town.

We decided to stay that night. I spent some of my time asking Haru how to earthbend. He showed me a few stances in the safety of his barn but told me not to practice in town.

Katara took a walk with Haru somewhere, and when she came back it was late. We went to bed in the haystacks of the barn, the ones that were left after Appa had eaten a good majority of it.

We woke up the next morning to Haru's mother's frantic voice.

The firebenders had taken Haru in the night.

Katara, being the self-sacrificing person she is immediately made a plan to save him, which involved being captured herself.

I butt in with the fact, I was an actual earthbender and Haru had shown me some moves. Enough to move a rock at the very least.

It was agreed Katara and I would have a spat. I would earthbend at her and Aang would intercept the rock with another rock using airbending.

We positioned ourselves in the outskirts of the town where we knew the firebenders would patrol. Aang and Sokka were hidden in an underground cave with the vent to allow air to push a rock.

"Would you just shut up!" I yelled at Katara dramatically.

"Why should I?" Katara demanded sounding much more convincing than she did in the show.

"You're not the only one whose lost something in this damn war. At least you still have your brother and father. I have no one!" I yelled as I thought of sad things to make my eyes water.

"You've been an orphan since you were seven. You don't even remember your parents." Katara rebuked sounding much more harsh than in the episode. It must've been the topic.

I stomped on the ground like Haru had instructed me and kicked the rock hard sending it flying toward Katara at a reasonable speed. Katara also stomped on the ground and unlike the show Aang got his cue perfect.

'Katara's' rock blocked my rock spectacularly.

The soldiers who had been watching since my first outburst quickly moved in to arrest us.

We were dragged off to the prison barge, Momo following us so he could lead Aang and Sokka to us later.

When we got to the barge I let Katara do all the talking.

The slop they tried to pass off as food was horrible, not as bad as sauerkraut though. I managed to swallow it.

Katara who had never had something as awful as sauerkraut didn't manage to swallow the horrible concoction they called food.

Katara was determined to help these people even if they themselves had given up hope.

When Sokka and Aang came to rescue us that night Katara refused to leave them.

Aang managed to figure out that they were using coal to power the ship and that coal was earth that the earthbenders could bend.

Aang went to work blocking all but two vents. One vent he would blow air into and the other was where the coal would come out.

Katara made a rousing speech but nobody moved to fight. The warden made fun of this, and turned his back on us.

Haru bended a piece of coal at the back of the warden's head and showed it was him by hovering three pieces of coal just above his palm in a circular motion.

The warden turned to attack Haru only to be blocked by Haru's father.

The rest of the earthbenders attacked and the firebenders fought back but eventually Haru's father had the whole crew of firebenders hovering over the ocean on a bed of coal.

He dropped them into the water making a wise crack about cowards floating.

We left the barge after hearing that the earthbenders were going to take their town back. We were quite a distance away when Katara realized her necklace was missing...

**A/N: I'm sorry, this chapter was really short and not as well written as the others. I didn't really like this episode much... I will probably redo it at a later date if I get enough requests. Please review. It makes me want to write.**


	9. Spirits and Solstice part 1

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Nine: Spirits and Solstice Part 1**

**A/N: Okay, first things first before I start this chapter. I've gotten several reviews that suggest (or rather bluntly state) that Kiara is a Mary-Sue. I really want to correct this before it gets too far along in the story. Kiara is not a Mary-Sue. She's an anomaly, an inconsistancy, an oddity, a paradox. She doesn't exactly fit into what would be considered normal. She's one of a kind. I gave a sort of Harry-Potter-Horcrux explaination for why Kiara has powers. She was given a small piece of Roku's spirit, that's what is keeping her in the Avatarverse. If she didn't have it she would still be in her own world. It sort of explains some of it but not all of it. I might expand the explanation more later. Kiara is far from perfect but she is more mature than the rest of the group because she is actually 24 and she spent 6 years taking care of herself and providing for a village that didn't know she even existed, in the South Pole. Now I apologize for taking up time for the people who didn't think Kiara is a Mary-Sue but now you won't have to wonder later.**

We were flying once again on Appa's back. I had mostly gotten over my fear of heights but sometimes if I looked down when we're flying it makes me feel dizzy.

"The clouds are so fluffy. It almost looks like you could jump on them." Katara said.

"Why don't you try?" Sokka asked aimed a glare at her brother.

"I will!" Aang volunteered eagerly. Before anyone could protest he jumped off of Appa's saddle right into the clouds. Katara and Sokka immediately ran to the edge he jumped off of and looked down at the clouds.

Aang reappeared behind them. He twisted a large amount of water from his shawl.

"Apparently, clouds are actually made of water." Aang said. He gave up drying his clothes that way and put his hands together like monk Gyatso's statue had his and a burst of wind rippled out from him. It instantly dried his clothes but also threw moist air at all of us on the bison.

Katara turned away. "What's that?" She asked staring down at a black spot on the otherwise green landscape.

It looked like ash. Someone had burned a portion of the forest.

"It looks like a scar." Sokka said.

Aang directed Appa to land.

When we set foot on the ground we noticed there was not a sound made. No twittering of birds, no cricket-hoppers chirping and no other animal sounds that were normally natural in a forest setting.

Aang sank to his knees staring at the burnt ground with an expression of utmost pain. I sank to my knees next to him and pulled him to my chest. A one-sided hug.

"Aang are you okay?" Katara asked a question.

The saying "There's no such thing as a stupid question" had obviously not been in this situation.

"Fire Nation! Those evil savages! They make me sick." Sokka began what would be a long rant if he was allowed to continue.

"Shh." Katara hissed at her brother. I ignored them both hugging Aang more firmly, trying to project what little emotion I have to Aang to help him cope with the destruction of the forest.

Katara moved around and kicked something looking down at it. She knelt down and picked somethings up and held them in her hand.

"Hey, Aang are you ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked. I looked up at her worried.

"No." Aang muttered sadly.

Katara pegged him in the forehead with an acorn. It barely missed me.

"Ouch." Aang yelped rubbing his forehead. "How is that supposed to cheer me up?" He asked.

"It cheered me up." Sokka said chuckling. Katara pegged him with an acorn too.

"I guess I deserved that." He muttered rubbing his head.

Katara picked another acorn up and put it in Aang's hand, curling his fingers around it. He opened his palm and stared at it.

"These are all over the place. That means in time the forest will grow back." She told him.

"Thanks Katara." Aang said gratefully.

We all heard the sound of foot steps and turned to see an old man walking out of the forest he had a can in his hand and was bald except for his beard.

"Who are you?" Sokka demanded suspiciously.

He ignored Sokka and walked straight toward Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings... Tell me, are you the avatar, child?" He asked Aang.

Aang looked at Katara for approval, then nodded after she nodded.

"My village desperately needs your help." The old man announced.

"We'll do whatever we can to help." Aang assured.

"Thank you, child." He turned and headed towards the forest. "Follow me." He ordered glancing over his shoulder to make sure we would follow. I brushed the ash off of my pants and followed Aang, and Katara. Sokka walked behind me sulking.

In several minutes we reached the gates to a small run down village. Some of the buildings were wreaked, roofs sinking in the middle threatening to fall in at any moment.

The old man lead us to a big building on the other side of the village. It was red with a green roof and there was a crowd of citizens dressed in green robes.

"This young man, is the avatar." The old man announced to the crowd gesturing to Aang.

One man, who was younger than the man who led us here, was dressed in green and gold robes and he moved forward at the old man's introduction. He appeared to be the leader of the village.

The man bowed to Aang. "So the rumors of your return are true. Its an honor to meet you." He said.

"Nice to meet you to." Aang answered bowing slightly back.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Aang brought up the question of: "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, I don't know." The man answered looking worried.

"Our village is in a crisis. We need his help." The old man interrupted. "For the last three days a spirit monster has been terrorizing our village. It comes at sunset. Its name is Hei Bei, the black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked.

"We do not know." The leader-ish man answered. He walked over to the door and looked out. "Each of the last three nights he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the Winter Solstice draws near." He said.

"What happens then?" Katara asked.

I interrupted at this point. "When the solstices draws near the spirit world and the human world touch, more so than usual. On the night of the solstice the line that divides them will disappear completely for a short time, a few minutes. A spirit can come to our world without the solstice, but with the solstice, the spirit will have a much easier time, thus have more energy left when it gets here." I explained. I had read the book I had found about spirits on the ship. It gave all the information I would ever want or need to know.

"Well said young lady." The old man praised.

"What do you want me to do?" Aang asked.

"Who better to solve a crisis between our world and the spirit world than the avatar himself." the old man said the question like a statement.

"You are the great bridge between our worlds." He finished.

"Right, that's me." Aang said skeptically.

"Hey great bridge guy," Katara called "can I talk to you over here for a second?" She asked leading him over to a window.

I didn't hear what they were saying but it was obvious Katara was comforting Aang.

I walked over in time to hear Sokka quip about us all being eaten by a spirit monster.

Katara punched him in the arm for it though.

The leader man came over. "Avatar, Hei Bei should be here soon. We need you outside." He told Aang.

Aang tried speaking to the spirit, but no answer came.

"This isn't right. He shouldn't have to face this alone." Sokka muttered. I nodded absently in agreement watching Aang like a hawk.

"If anyone can save us, he can." The old man said.

The room grew as quiet as a grave as the sun began to set. Everyone including myself held our breaths waiting for the spirit to appear.

Aang said something about demanding the spirit to leave the village in peace and I nearly groaned. Spirits needed to be treated with respect, even if they were terrorizing a village.

Nothing happened and Aang turned away deciding nothing was going to happen.

Aang was halfway back to the building when a black and white monster spirit suddenly appeared from the woods.

Hei Bei's form blurred in my vision for a second and suddenly I saw a panda. Then it blurred again and it was the monster from before.

"Its a panda." I muttered softly. Almost unconsciously I drew closer to the door.

Aang tried to introduce himself, but Hei Bei ignored him and began letting out blast of light blue energy that destroyed what it hit.

"The avatar's methods are unusual." The leader commented.

"It doesn't seem to be interested in what Aang has to say. Maybe we should go help." Sokka suggested.

I scooted closer to the door knowing the time to act was coming.

"No!" The old man ordered. "Only the avatar stands a chance against Hei Bei."

Aang finally landing in front of the spirit trying to talk to him only to get backhanded away.

"That's it, he needs help." Sokka declared. He ran out the doors of the building and I followed on his heels. Katara tried to follow us but several villagers held her back.

"Hei Bei! Over here!" Sokka yelled throwing his boomerang at the spirit. The boomerang hit the spirit in the butt but did no damage.

Sokka ran over to Hei Bei and Aang.

"Sokka go back!" Aang ordered worriedly.

I heard Aang mutter something about not wanting to fight him, but I saw the muscles in Hei Bei's upper arm twitch and realized he was going to grab Sokka seconds before it happened. I tackled Sokka to the ground and Hei Bei's grasped missed mostly, tearing a large gash in my coat as I was the last one to get out of the way.

I yelped rolling to my feet and started running away hoping the spirit would lose interest and leave.

That didn't work. I was suddenly snatched up into one clawed arm and was being carried through the forest.

I shrieked in surprise. Aang appeared off to the side of us flying on his glider. I reached out desperately for his hand. Our fingers brushed lightly, then I was no longer in the forest.

I was still in a forest but everything looked off. It was sort of misty and I could see the three villagers that had been taken.

Hei Bei dropped me beside the other three. "Oof." I grunted alerting it to the fact I was in fact conscious. It looked at me with an inquiring expression. Then grunted in annoyance. The grunt sounded like a wuff a bear would make.

I sat still as the spirit looked me over. It finally sighed in exasperation. I was knocked onto my back harshly with one of the spirits massive arms. It pinned me there for several seconds then let go. I didn't move. It was obvious the spirit wanted me to lay down and stay down.

I sighed as I laid down and closed my eyes. Maybe I could get some sleep.

I drifted off to sleep and didn't wake up until I felt a light caress against my face. I cracked my eyes open to see Hei Bei. It was in its panda form not the monstrous form so I figured he had been calmed.

I reached up and rubbed the spirits head lightly. It rumbled appreciatively and nudged me to my feet. I walked forward and suddenly I was in the town.I rubbed my eyes lightly.

"Kiara!" Sokka and Katara yelled cheerfully. The instantly wrapped me in a hug. Aang followed behind them.

I looked back at the place I had come from and saw it was a small patch of bamboo.

"You were in the spirit world for a whole day, how do you feel?" Katara asked.

"Fine, I'm fine. I slept most of my time there." I answered honestly.

I sort of faded out of awareness and next thing I know I'm being woken up during the middle of night as Aang tries to get Appa to leave. I yawn irritably and climbed up Appa's beaver-like tail and sit in his saddle.

"You're not going." Sokka said. "At least not without your friends." He finished.

**To be continued...**


	10. Spirits and Solstice part 2

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Ten: Spirits and Solstice part 2**

The village leader approached us and Sokka rudely asked for supplies.

The leader gladly gave us a bundle of supplies and told us if we wanted to reach the temple by sunset we would have to hurry.

I dozed off in the saddle and only woke up when the bison jerked to the side. I yelped at the sudden sliding sensation. I reached for the closest thing to grab but missed and slide right off the saddle. I screamed in shock reaching for the water in the air. I quickly formed it into an ice hang-glider. I felt my fall turned into a controlled glide. I forced some airbending I had learned to push the glider up higher.

I hovered right beside Appa and then jumped to his saddle even as I turned the ice back into water.

Once the other three saw I was safe they went back to their conversation.

"We have to run the blockade." Sokka said.

Aang directed Appa directly toward the blockade of Fire Nation ships. There were a dozen or more hot, stinky, fireballs coming toward us. I created a water shield in front of Appa quickly. It was see-through but it would extinguish the fireball.

"Good job, Kiara." Sokka said cheerfully.

I stood on the saddle. I quickly used some water to freeze my feet to the saddle so I wouldn't fall. I began bending water out of the air and some from the ocean. I quickly used the water to re-enforce the ice shield. Hopefully it would hold until we got out of range.

Then I got an evil idea. I collected as much water as I could, then gathered it into a several head-sized balls and froze them.

As we passed over the blockade I bended the ice balls over the side of Appa. Three or four of the ice balls missed completely. Two glanced a blow, and the last one landed directly on the head ship a foot away from the monkey faced commander.

"Score!" I grinned.

"Nice." Sokka said sincerely.

Katara looked at me disapprovingly.

"We made it!" Aang cheered.

"We made it into the Fire Nation. Great." This time Sokka was sarcastic.

We rode through the air for another hour or so before Aang shouted out, he had spotted the island.

Appa landed and I gratefully got off. I still wasn't very fond of heights, and my near fall to my death had made me like them even less. Aang hugged Appa praising him. Katara cooed at Appa and Sokka made a fool of himself.

"Come on." I said heading towards the temple.

We paused at the balcony and looked around the corner to see if there were any guards. There weren't.

"They must've abandoned the temple after Avatar Roku's death.

We snuck in quietly. We made our way into a large red room and figured out we were lost.

"Aang, which way do we go?" I asked.

"I don't know." He replied.

"I thought you came here in the spirit world. Even in the spirit world you would have to follow the path, right?" I asked turning to stare at him.

"Fang just went right through the walls." Aang shrugged back.

"And you didn't think it was a good idea to tell us you had no clue where you're supposed to meet Roku?" I asked.

Sokka and Katara were watching our conversation like it was a tennis match.

Aang shrugged again.

"Shh!" Sokka whispered harshly. "I think I hear something." He said.

We turned to see a group of four old men glaring at us. The fifth one wasn't glaring.

"We are the Fire Sages. Guardians of the temple of the Avatar." One of the glaring ones said.

"Great, I'm the Avatar." Aang said stepping forward with a grin.

"We know." The sage replied and all four of the glaring men shot fireballs at our group.

Aang quickly bent a blast of air to block the fire as we all ran out of the room.

Aang was behind us for a little while but he quickly caught up with his air bending. "Follow me." He yelled over his shoulder.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Sokka asked as we followed his lead.

"Nope." He said cheerfully turning a corner. Before we reached the corner he came back around it. "Not that way." He said before we could ask.

We stared at him confused until a sage came around the corner than we ran after him.

"Come back!" The sage yelled. His voice wasn't as harsh as the other sage's voices.

We ran around a corner only to come to a dead end. There was a hallway with a window at the end and no other doors.

We backed up to the window as the sage came around the corner.

"I don't want to fight you. I'm a friend." He said sincerely.

Aang and Sokka took fighting stances. "Fire benders aren't our friends!" Sokka yelled.

The sage took a step forward before dropping to his knees in a bow in front of Aang. "I know why you are here Avatar." He said.

"You do?" Aang asked dropping his guard.

"Yes, you wish to speak with Avatar Roku. I can take you to him." He answered.

"How?" Aang asked skeptically.

The sage showed us the secret passage that was opened with firebending. He then led us to a giant door.

"Why do all these sacred temple places have such big doors?" I suddenly asked. "Its a big waste of wood and its not like anyone but sages and the avatar will ever see the damn things."

The group looked at me like I just said something that was completely foreign.

"No!" the sage suddenly shouted. "The doors are closed." He said.

"Can't you open them?" Katara asked.

"No, only a fully realized avatar or five simultaneous fire blasts can open the doors." He told us.

"Five fire blast, huh." Sokka asked looking up at the lantern above them. You could practically see the light bulb go off. "I think I can help you out." He said.

"What you suddenly gain the power to fire bend?" I asked sarcastically.

"No!" Sokka objected. "I just need the lantern above us and our pouches.

The sage got the lantern while Aang and Katara emptied the pouches we had.

Sokka carefully poured the oil from the lantern into the pouches.

"What's to stop the oil from going through the pouches?"I asked.

"They're made of waterproof material. You see, I put the oil in the pouches, make a fuse and Shyu just lights the fuses and we have five fire blasts at the same time. Fake fire blasts but it should work." Sokka explained.

Sokka set the bombs up and all of us stood behind pillars to prepare for the blast.

"The other sages will hear the blasts so as soon as the doors open run in." He instructed.

Aang nodded.

Shyu lit the ropes on fire and in a few seconds we heard a tremendous BOOM.

Aang rushed into the smoke only to find the door was still closed which he then announced to us.

Aang started throwing numerous air blasts at the door. "WHY. WON'T. IT. OPEN!" He complained.

"Enough Aang." Katara said. "There's nothing else we can do." She continued once she noticed she had Aang's attention.

"I don't get it. Those explosions looked as strong as any fire blast I've ever seen." Sokka muttered.

"Sokka you're a genius!" Katara exclaimed.

"Wait, how is Sokka a genius?" Aang asked. "His plan didn't work."

"Let her dream." Sokka said.

"No it didn't, but it looks like it did." Katara continued.

"Did the definition of genius change in the last hundred years." Aang asked.

"She means that the other sages will think you got in and they'll open the doors to 'catch' you." I interrupted before it could go on any longer.

"If we send Momo through the pipe he can walk back and forth and his shadow will look human from over here." Katara added.

"When the sages open the door to get you, you run in and we'll distract the sages." I planned.

Just like we planned when the sages saw the shadow they thought it was Aang and all five of them firebended at the dragon mouths to open the door.

They froze in shock when they saw it was only Momo. I grabbed one of the sages around the neck with a sleeper hold knocking him unconscious from lack of oxygen. Then I went for as second sage. This one was a little more prepared. He had seen his fellow sage taken down and made sure to use fire bending to keep me at arms distance at least.

I attacked back with air bending because there wasn't enough water in the air to make a decent attack. The sage looked surprised for a second then attacked with renewed vigor. Apparently he thought I was the avatar and Aang had been a decoy.

Zuko came out from behind the pillar holding Aang. "The avatar's coming with me." He declared.

"He's not the avatar!" I bluffed. "I'm the avatar." I sent a blast of air at Zuko surprising him into letting Aang go.

Aang instantly ran into the room.

"He made it." Katara sighed in relief.

Monkey face came in next with his soldiers and caught the Gaang and Zuko and Shyu.

Monkey face whose actual name was Zhao, gave a monologue about how he was going to catch the avatar and blah blah blah.

When the door opened a while later Zhao ordered his men to fire. The did but the fire was suddenly redirected. It wasn't Aang that had come out of the doors. It was Avatar Roku.

Suddenly the temple was coming down around us. Our chains were melted including Zuko's and all of us ran for whatever cover we had. For the Gaang it was Aang/Roku, for Zuko it was out of the temple and for the rest of the fire benders it was out of the temple.

Aang used the bison whistle after he went back to his normal form. The ceiling of the temple was still falling around us.

Appa swooped out of the sky and carried us off just before the last of the temple collapsed.

We hugged and stayed that way until it was moon rise. Then we lay down for a well deserved rest.

We would find out what Roku said after some rest.


	11. Unneeded Scroll

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Eleven: Unneeded Scroll**

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Aang's light pacing. He was rushing back and forth in the saddle, like a yo-yo being yanked up and down by someone who was just starting and didn't know how to tug just hard enough to get the yo-yo back to their hands.

"Aang will you sit down. If we hit a bump you'll go flying off." Sokka said in annoyance.

"It's what Avatar Roku said." Aang admitted as he continued to pace restlessly. "I have to master all four elements before the comet arrives this summer."

"Well, let's see. You've pretty much mastered air bending and it only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master the other three by summer." Sokka said sarcastically.

Then he yelped as Katara smacked him in the back of the head. "Not helping."

I sat up with a jaw cracking yawn and stretched my spine. It snapped several times as the bones stretched into place.

"I could teach you and Katara water bending." I volunteered. "I think I'm close to mastering the element anyway." I added almost modestly. I hated bragging. Guess it had something to do with being a Scorpio.

"You'd do that?" Both Aang and Katara asked eagerly.

"Yeah, you taught me air bending." I said to Aang.

"We need to find a good source of water." Katara said as she looked over the side of Appa's saddle.

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka said teasingly.

"Down there." Aang said as he turned Appa to land.

"Where?" Sokka asked.

We landed at the base of a gorgeous waterfall.

"Nice puddle." Sokka was back to sarcastic mode.

Appa eagerly belly flopped into the water creating a large wave of water that hit all of us. I quickly bended most of the water away from myself so I only got damp instead of soaked to the bone.

Aang eagerly began stripping. "Wait for me boy!" He shouted.

"Aang. Water bending first. Swimming later." I told him. I wanted to teach them enough that stealing the water bending scroll wouldn't be necessary.

"Oh." Said Aang sounding mildly disappointed before he went back to his cheerful self.

I quickly peeled off my outer layer of coats and clothes leaving me in a tank top cut off tee-shirt and a pair of cut off at the knee shorts.

I stepped into the water shuddering slightly at the cold of the water on my feet.

"Sokka, take Appa further up river. We don't want him to be hit by any stray waves cause by over eager students." I said.

"Why do I have to do it?" He asked.

"Because I'm teaching Aang and Katara to bend and you aren't doing anything at the moment. Do something you think will be useful: take a bath, check our supplies, sharpen your weapons, clean Appa's toes, just do something." I said as I let myself adjust to the water.

I took a deep breath as Sokka did what I said. Now we wouldn't have to go into town for supplies and Katara wouldn't steal the water bending scroll.

"Okay first thing first. Let's see you move the water." I ordered. "I'm pretty sure Katara knows how to do this. Aang, for you I want you to focus on the water. Imagine the push and pull of waves coming on the shore at a beach. Now move your wrist like this..." I trailed off showing him the movement by taking his own hands and drawing them gently into the motions.

Push, pull. Push, pull.

Katara had a stream of water floating in front of her.

I step to her side. "Now move forward smoothly. Right foot forward and to the right, left foot follow move your arms like so..." I showed her the move with me doing it and gently corrected a misplaced foot or a too stiff wrist.

"Relax Katara. Water is fluid, you have to coax it to do what you want. It is not Earth that will not move without force, nor is it fire you need to rein in. Water and air exist by themselves. They are free elements. Water takes the path of least resistance. Air flows whatever way it wants. If following you is the path of least resistance, the water will follow." I instructed gently, kindly, not sounding arrogant or like a know-it-all.

Sounding as such was a good way to lose a student and their patience.

I moved back over to Aang and gently repeated what I just told Katara, coaxing him gently into performing the water whip. I gave him the directions to perform the water wall and hurried back over to Katara.

Her moves were sharp and choppy. Not at all like a water bender's movements should be. I gently grabbed her wrists and led her through the move. "You're trying to hard, sometimes good things come to those who wait." I said gently. I corrected her stance slightly. "Feel how this is more balanced? It's easier to regain balance in this stance, easier to redirect your opponents' hits." I told her.

After another five minutes of gentle coaxing she performed a weak water whip.

"Good, good. Just work on it. It will get stronger the more it's used. Like a muscle. I showed her the water wall before heading back to Aang.

He had managed to create the wall, but he lost focus easily and it quickly dropped like a bucket of cement in the sea.

"Here." I said breathing out on the wall he had just brought up. It froze into solid ice very quickly.

"How do you do that?" Aang asked eagerly.

"First take a breath, now exhale while thinking about cold, about frozen things." I breathed out freezing another section of water into ice.

This time we practiced all day and we didn't lose our supplies or have Katara snap at Aang for being better than her.

But just because she didn't snap didn't mean she wasn't angry.

I left the boys to set up the camp and led Katara into the woods to "collect wood'.

"Katara, you shouldn't get mad at Aang for being good at being a good bender." I said as I casually picked up a couple branches.

"What? I'm not mad at Aang." Katara denied.

"No you're not mad, you're jealous." I corrected. "Which in some cases is worse. You shouldn't be jealous. I'm your first teacher and this is your first element to master. Aang has already mastered air bending. It has taught him discipline. It has taught him to take the failures he makes and fix them." I said as I calmly continued collecting wood.

"Katara, Aang is the Avatar. Every avatar masters every element. So technically Aang is just relearning to water bend. Its like using your leg after its been broken. It takes some time to build up to the level you were previously and it will eventually be stronger for the break." I told Katara hoping she would get the analogy.

"So, Aang is just relearning the elements, he's not just really talented?" Katara asked.

"Oh, he's talented alright. But he is also the avatar and that allows him a little more talent then normal." I said as we finished collecting wood.

Katara 'hmmed' in thought. "Okay, I'll try not to be jealous of Aang." Katara said.

"Good, if you ever feel the need to be jealous just remember what he's gone through and what he will have to go through." I added softly just as we entered camp.

I quickly set up the teepee of twigs and cautiously started the fire with help from the spark rocks I had packed.

"Good night, guys." I said as I settled down after dinner. It had been a good day. I had maneuvered us to avoid both Zuko and the pirates. If our luck held we wouldn't see Zuko for quite a while.

And if we were lucky Sokka wouldn't force us to walk because Zuko wouldn't have found us. Maybe...


	12. Roughing it, Stupid Sokka making us walk

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Twelve: Roughing It, Stupid Sokka Making Us Walk part 1**

We were unfortunately forced to walk by Sokka anyway.

When we had flown away from the waterfall, Zuko had seen us and had taken several shots at us with his "hot stinkers" as Katara called them. They did stink horribly but giving them a horrible name on top of that wasn't justified.

We had landed several hours away from where we had last camped. Appa had needed a break. Not that I blamed him. I would be exhausted carrying around four teenagers, even if they were probably less than one percent of my total weight, too.

"Where's Momo?" Katara suddenly asked.

I looked up from sharpening my dao swords. I hadn't used them lately and I was probably getting out of practice. I should probably practice with my bow too.

"I don't know." Sokka answered.

We heard a screeching chirp in reply. We rushed to the sound. Aang was way ahead of all of us using his airbending.

We found him when we looked up. He had been caught in a metal trap. It didn't hurt him just caught him. Unlike many of the other traps that were made in my world.

Aang instantly jumped up and pried the metal open the hard way.

We looked over and there were two more creatures trapped as well. The looked sort of like dogs. One reached out a paw hopefully.

"Okay you too." Aang agreed going to jump up again.

"That'll take forever." Sokka complained throwing his boomerang at just the right angle to cut both the ropes the metal traps were hanging from.

The traps burst open like overripe fruit when they hit the ground and the dog creatures went running.

"These are Fire Nation traps." Sokka said examining the trap more closely. "You can tell by the metal work. It's time to leave." He said.

We quickly hurried back to the small camp we had set up and began to pack our stuff on Appa.

Just as we prepared to climb up on Appa, Sokka objected telling us we had to walk because Appa was the reason why the Fire Nation kept finding us.

I objected. "They keep finding us because Zuko is as stubborn as an earthbender and as ruthless as a firebender." I told them. They looked at me like I said something weird.

They ignored me and went back to their argument.

"How do you think Zuko keeps finding us. Its Appa he's way too noticeable." Sokka argued.

"It can't be Appa." Katara objected.

"He's a giant, fluffy, monster, with horns and an arrow on his head." Sokka returned.

Appa groaned.

"Don't worry Appa, Sokka's just jealous he doesn't have an arrow." Aang comforted his giant spirit animal.

Which reminded me of Kovu, who I missed desperately.

"We're walking that's final." Sokka said.

"Who died and made you leader?" Katara asked. "If anyone should be leader it should be Aang."

"He's just a goofy kid. I'm the oldest that makes me leader." Sokka tried to make his voice deeper but it ended up cracking on the last word.

"I'm older than you." I said bluntly.

All three looked over to me. "I vote Kiara." Aang said helpfully.

"Me too. Anyone who isn't Sokka." Katara agreed teasingly.

"So I say we take the bison and try to outrun anyone who comes after us instead of sneaking by." I said.

Unfortunately, Sokka somehow managed to convince Katara and Aang it would be a good idea to walk.

Damn.

After a hour of walking Aang and Katara started to complain. The only reason I hadn't joined them was because I was used to long walks from delivering food to the village and my hunting trips.

Eventually they started making jokes about "Sokka's instincts" making them personified.

We continued stomping through the brush. I sighed in exasperation. None of these guys were very stealthy. We sounded like a herd of elephants parading through the woods. If there were any troops anywhere near us they would hear us long before we would see them.

And just like I had anticipated we walked right into a camp of fire benders who were on their lunch break. They all instantly reached for their weapons. I drew my bow quickly aiming an arrow at one man's head.

"Now you let us leave nice and easy and I don't show you how I compare to the Yu Yan." I threatened.

"Ha! Like a girl is a threat." Another more stupid man said from the back.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't your princess a girl, and aren't you afraid of her?" I asked.

Several of the men who had obviously met the princess shuddered and nodded. Unfortunately it seemed the sexist idiot had not in fact met the princess.

Just as he was about to attack I swung the bow and arrow to point toward him and hit him right in his dominate hand which had been holding his lance. It pierced right were the muscles came together with the nerves and he screamed in surprise and pain as he fell to his knees craddling his hand.

"Next one will be through your eyes." I directed my threat to the lead man. He was the one standing in front of me brave as brass.

Sokka, Aang and Katara had scooted back on my signal as I slowly waved them back with a free hand pretending to go for another arrow.

That's when it started raining kids. Teenagers flocked out of the trees like exotic birds landing among a feast of worms.

They easily began fighting the soldiers. I slung my bow back over my shoulder and took out my dao and began cutting through the ranks of soldiers. I made sure I didn't kill anyone. Just serious enough wounds to put them out of the fight.

One of the soldiers was a firebender and he threw a fireball right at my head. I sliced it in half with my dao adding some airbending to make the flame dissipate.

Katara was waterbending and knocking a few soldiers out. She had goo-goo eyes on one of the teens. He was alright looking but nothing to get the heart beat racing. Not to mention by how he was acting he was one cocky S.O.B.

I rolled my eyes and knocked another soldier out with the butt of one of my swords. He fell like a chopped tree.

A few more teens were crowding around trying to knock out the men that now surrounded me.

"They're mine." I said shortly.

Most of the kids backed off. Apparently they had heard that order before.

It took me several more minutes but all six of the guys were on the ground around me either groaning in pain or out cold.

I looked around. Most of the other fire nation soldiers had fled in fear at the group that had been beating them. Katara was now taking to the boy she had goo-goo eyes after. I barely restrained a face palm. She could be so smart one minute then dumb as a fangirl the next.

"Katara, get away from the boy who lives in a tree. Its safe to say he doesn't bathe daily. And he obviously has an addiction to whatever he's chewing on." I ordered smirking. It was fun to poke logic shaped holes in other's actions.

A few of the boys around us giggled, while some looked offended on behalf of their leader. Said leader just chuckled. "Jealous?" He asked.

"Eww." I said bluntly. "Out of the two of you, I'd pick Katara and I'm as straight as an arrow." I said with a small sneer at him.

He ignored me obviously not having a response. He turned to the rest of the gaang and introduced them to his band of merry thieves. Oh wait, wrong story, his "freedom fighters".

I avoided him like the plague even as he led us back to his hideout. A tree house, all the fire nation would have to do to get rid of them is set the forest on fire and they'd be trapped and die of smoke inhalation or burn to death. Neither were a pleasant way to go.

I wandered around ignoring the rest of my group cooing over how cool everything was. Aang over the buildings, Katara over Jet, and Sokka over the food that he could smell.

I rounded a corner and ran into Longshot. He stared at me right in the eyes for several seconds and nodded.

I could practically hear the unspoken "You're good with a bow." hanging in the air.

I smiled at him. At least he had his head in the right place.

"Want to have an archery contest?" I asked.

He looked like he was thinking for several seconds before nodding and leading me away from the main group of houses.

We stood side by side. Longshot drew his first arrow and sent an arrow flying through the air, it hit a knot on a tree almost fifty yards away.

"Nice." I commented before drawing my own arrow. I pulled the string back until it touched the corner of my mouth. Then took aim, and released. It flew through the air rapidly, until it landed with a quivering thud right next to Longshot's arrow.

He nodded to me.

We continued in this pattern until both of us ran out of arrows. Once we had I used a burst of airbending to jump over to the tree the arrows were stuck in I pulled them out easily. Practice makes perfect.

I handed Longshot his arrows back, he accepted them looking at me curiously.

I shrugged.

He nodded.

A whole conversation took place with no words spoken.

We walked to the base where Jet was yelling his speech to his group. We slipped in nearly unnoticed. I bowed, more a nod of the head then anything else and went to sit by my friends.

I didn't really want to stay the night but after Jet said he had a mission for Sokka, Sokka decided to stay. Three to one. We were staying, never mind the fact I was twenty-four and knew better than them.

**A/N: Sorry about this being late, not much incentive to continue. I maybe get one review per chapter and I didn't get any reviews for chapter ten. So please review, it makes me want to write.**


	13. Roughing it, part 2

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Thirteen: Roughing it, part 2**

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to OneWorldLife and Naomi Gardiner who gave me the kick in the pants I needed to write an actual story. So thank you. I didn't even notice I was just copying the episodes.**

I woke early the next morning. I slipped out of my sleeping bag looking at my companions as I did. With a silent sigh I slipped out of the flap of the tree house. I hated heights, why was I even here. Its not like they others were going to believe that Jet was actually evil. After all he was "handsome" which was all the incentive Katara needed to listen to him. Aang would follow Katara off the edge of a cliff and Sokka would be at least a little skeptical at least until he saw for himself how bad Jet was.

Speaking of which, the boys should be getting ready to head out on their secret mission. Maybe I should follow just to see if I could change anything. I didn't want to change anything too drastically or the timeline could change completely and I would have no clue what to do. But what was the harm in following the boys just to help the old man? Its not like it would completely change the timeline if I helped one man, right?

Maybe I should get a mask. Like Zuko had for the Blue Spirit episode. Maybe a red one to mock the fire nation. I shook my head as if I could dislodge my thoughts by physical movement. I checked to make sure I had my weapons. Dao swords, bow and quiver of arrows, water pouch, and a small knife I could use in close combat.

Yep, I was set. I used a small bit of air bending to help me drop to the ground lightly. I was pretty good at both air and water bending. Probably because they fit my personality. When I was in school and I got mad enough to punch someone I never did. I let taunts and teases flow off of my back like water and I lived day by day not planning too far ahead. I had a vague goal and worked toward that and nothing else.

The sound of teenagers getting around warned me I should hid if I wanted to follow without alerting them to my presence. I hid behind a thick tree watching as Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot led Sokka where ever they were going. I waited for three minutes before following at the same pace they had. The distance would let me keep them in sight and keep myself out of their sight and hearing range.

I had learned that the hard way hunting Carribou-goats. If they heard you they either fled quickly or if you were unlucky turned to take a chuck out of you with their antlers. One had tried once to maul me with his antlers. I had barely managed to avoid a serious injury. Kovu had ended up jumping in to save me.

Flashback:

It had been a year since I had gotten Kovu. He had grown rapidly under my care. Without his siblings to hog his share of food he grew like a weed. He now easily reached my waist. (He would grow to reach my shoulder by the time I left the South Pole.). We had been tracking a herd of Carribou-goat. One male and his harem of eight females. Well, more like Kovu had been tracking them and I was following his led while watching for signs that would help me if Kovu was doing something else while I was hunting.

Kovu sometimes left randomly for short periods of time. I thought he had found a female friend besides me but I didn't try to follow him. I was happy he had someone for himself. I have always felt I would never find someone and I was glad my friend had managed to find someone for himself.

Kovu was eager. He bolted forward several yards before running back to my side then forward again. He acted just like my dog, Angel would when she wanted me to hurry up. I gave in and picked up my pace to a light jog instead of the speed walking I had been doing.

We came over a small hill of snow and walked right into the herd's resting ground.

Big mistake. As soon as the buck saw us enter he charged. His antlers lowered as he charged at me like a knight with a lance. I nearly froze in fear but quickly jumped to the side to avoid the deadly horns. He keep galloping for several more feet before wheeling around for another try. I struggled to my feet, the ice and loose snow hindering my movements. The buck charged this time faster than the last. It seemed to have become angrier because it's first attack had failed.

By the time I had gotten to my feet the angry animal was almost on top of me. Before I knew what happened I had been tackled, but not from the side I was expecting.

Kovu seeing my dilemma knocked me out of the furious animal's path.

Kovu stood over me protectively for several seconds to make sure the buck wasn't going to immediately attack. The buck couldn't though, he had built up too much momentum to stop so quickly. As soon as Kovu noticed this he took it as he's chance to attack.

Lynx wolves, like Kovu, usually hunted in packs. Mostly for convenience, they were big and strong enough to hunt for themselves but wolves were social creatures much like humans. They liked working together. They were probably able to work alone because of the lynx part of them. Lynx hunted alone, or if they were female, with their cubs.

Kovu proved that he didn't need a pack that day. He was on the buck before it could turn around for a third run. He leapt through the air flying almost like a diving eagle. Kovu landed claws out on the buck's back. The claws dug in piercing flesh. The injured animal bellowed in rage whipping it head around to knock Kovu off it with it's horns.

Kovu leaned back just enough for the antlers to miss his face completely. He then attacked the portion of the neck that had been left open by the buck's reckless attack. Kovu bit into the flesh on the creature's neck and shook his head viciously snapping the buck's neck like I would snap a dry, brittle twig.

He made sure the animal was dead before moving over to me. I still sat in the snow stunned by the attack. Kovu approached me almost cautiously, like he was afraid I would run at the slightest fast movement. He nudged my face gently trying to catch my attention. I automatically reached up to rub his ears like I had done a hundred times before. He leaned into my hand and laid down at my side. He leaned against me providing the comforting warmth I needed. I didn't realize how much I needed it until I received it.

I had missed contact. I had not hugged anyone for three or four years. I missed the comfort provided. I reached out and hugged Kovu burying my face into the warm fur on his chest. He laid his chin on top of my head gently as if he could understand I needed to have a hug. I needed contact. We sat there for a long time before I finally let Kovu go and stood up. I didn't know how long we had sat there but I did know that when we got up the buck's corpse was cold. It had started to freeze in the arctic weather without the body heat caused by blood being pumped around the body.

I struggled to lift the large animal onto Kovu's back. We needed to build a sled. Kovu didn't complain though he did look mildly disgruntled at being used as a pack mule.

We had taken a long while to get back to my home, our home. We spent the rest of the night cutting up the buck and cuddling with each other.

That night I had fell asleep against Kovu feeling safe and warm.

End Flashback

I shook the memory out of my head. I smiled a little at the memory then frowned. Kovu. He was still in the South Pole. Hopefully he was taking care of the village and himself. I wouldn't know what to do without Kovu, he was my first true friend in this world, I didn't seem to fit in.

I nearly didn't notice the branch in my path but stopped just centimeters from putting my foot on the branch that would have no doubt cause a loud snap to echo in the stillness. I would have been caught. And knowing Jet killed, he was willing to kill a whole village to get rid of some fire nation soldiers, imagine what he would do to one person who had made it perfectly clear how much s/he hated him.

I jumped lightly up on to a tree branch several feet above my head. I was in a good position to see the path and to hear what was going on. I had reached my position just in time to see Sokka stand up to Jet on the old man's behalf. Jet was yelling about the man being fire nation but finally left with the rest of his group at Sokka's insistence.

I waited a minute or two to make sure they would be out of range before dropping softly from my perch. I quietly picked up the old man's walking stick, which had been thrown away by Jet, and moved to his side without his knowledge. I gently grabbed his elbow and pulled his light weight up. Well, at least he was light compared to a dead Carribou-goat.

His head whipped around to stare at me. I gently grabbed his hand and wrapped it around the head of his walking stick.

"Thank you." He whispered in a wavering voice.

"You're welcome." I answered just as softly. "I'll walk you to your village. But I can't come in." I told him calmly as I walked by his side. I had to slow my pace a lot to keep his pace. It reminded me of when I walked by my gram. She had a cane too, she had a slow shuffling gait that made me be several feet ahead of her whenever I walked with her. I always ended up looking behind me to make sure she hadn't fallen and she was still there. I managed to slow my amble to nearly a crawl to walk beside the man.

We walked in silence. He looked thoughtful and I didn't want to interrupt his thoughts.

I stopped at the edge of the forest and he continued for several more feet before noticing I stopped. He looked back at me curiously. I smiled and gestured for him to go on. As soon as I saw him enter the village I melted back into the forest like I had never been there to begin with.

It took me a good amount of time to get back to the head quarters of the so-called Freedom Fighters. When I got there Aang and Katara were off with Jet. Sokka was angrily packing stuff onto Appa. I approached him gingerly, wanting for him to turn and snap at me for some reason even I could scarcely think of.

And I was right. As soon as he noticed me he snapped out a question. "Where have you been?" It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"I didn't know you were given the duty of knowing where I was twenty-four/seven. Next time I go for a walk I'll tell you." I retorted as scornfully as I could.

My tone seemed to snap him out of whatever mood he had been in.

"Sorry." He apologized sheepishly.

"Its fine. Jet?" I returned easily.

"Yeah, he beat up a harmless old man. And then Katara took his side and Aang took her side." He reported.

I nodded. "Yeah, well, she obviously has a crush on him. Its sort of expected she will chose his side to get him to notice her." I answered. "And Aang has a crush on Katara so he'll agree with her." I finished wanting to see his reaction.

He just nodded. Hm, guess that meant he knew Aang liked Katara.

"We have to stay another night." Sokka said. "Katara and Aang fell for Jet's story about fire benders going to set the forest on fire." He answered my unasked question.

I nodded in understanding. We mulled around wanting the day to just hurry and get over. I showed Sokka how to use my dao swords which he really seemed to like. Apparently slicing stuff seemed more exciting than smashing stuff. I showed him some of the moves I made up myself based on other shows I'd watched like Naruto, Inuyasha, and even some Bleach.

I told him he could probably buy a pair of swords when we stopped in a town if we had enough money. I sat against the base of a tree watching him repeatedly practice the katas I had shown him. He was a good student. If he found a real master he would impress him or her.

After a while I grew bored of watching the repetition of Sokka's motions. He was doing the katas right so I felt confident enough to let him practice without my eyes on him. I found a small bundle of string in one of Appa's packs. They were odds and ends of strings. I measured one out using my arm as a measuring tape. It was just about long enough to make a friendship bracelet. Now if I could find two more about the same size... There's one. And there's another.

I went to work on my bracelet. The colors were blue, yellow, and brown. I lined all the strings up so one of each of there ends touched then folded it in the middle so all six ends touched. Then I tied a loop in the middle for the place where the bracelet would have a bead. I lined the colors up the pattern I wanted. Orange, brown, blue, orange, brown, blue and began working. The orange string tied two knots on the brown, then two on the blue, two on the orange, two on the brown and two on the blue and then let it lie on the end. Then the process repeated with the next string in line and the next and the next.

I didn't even notice time pass. It was nearly dark before I noticed the day was gone. It didn't matter though. I was done with the bracelet. I looked around for something I could use as a bead, when I didn't find one I grabbed a small branch from the ground and used my knife to carve a crude bead.

I slipped the six strings through the hole in the bead and tied a knot after it examining my work after all. It looked good. It was a simple bracelet but it made me feel more at home. I had taken a class called mosaic and textile art in 12th grade and spent most of the textile portion making a lot of friendship bracelets.

Sokka had been watching me I noticed as I put the bracelet on my wrist slipping the bead through the loop to clasp it.

"That's cool, where did you learn it?" He asked examining the bracelet.

"I learned some from a book, the rest I learned through practice." I said with a small blush. It wasn't all that impressive. One of the girls in my class could make a bracelet in such a short amount of time it put mine to shame.

He tugged gently on the bracelet and it stretched but didn't break. "It also stretches." He mused looking at it one more time before stepping back. He picked up my dao swords which he had oiled and sharpened while I had been working on my project. I could tell because I could smell the oil and one didn't oil swords unless you sharpened them first, or you got them wet.

"Here, I took care of them because I didn't know when you would be done and didn't want you to have to take care of them after you were finished because I used them." He said handing me the dao in their sheaths.

I accepted them gratefully. "Thanks." I said with a smile. I pulled them out of their sheaths to make sure he did a good job. He had.

"I guess we should be going to sleep." Sokka said.

"You go ahead. I'm going to enjoy the night a little longer." I announced leaning back against Appa's furry side.

Sokka nodded in understanding and went up to one of the ropes that ripped people up into the trees. I watched him as he shot upwards like a soda cap when you shook the bottle too long.

I didn't even notice when I fell asleep against Appa's side.

The next morning I was woken up to the sounds of urgent whispers. I stood up slowly working and kinks out as I went as to not alert them if I stretch and a bone popped later. I then followed the sounds of the voice, watching my feet as I went. I had almost snapped a stick yesterday, I wasn't going to do so today.

Sokka was yelling at Jet, Pipsqueak and The Duke had him with his hands tied behind his back. I waited patiently. Jet finally left with Longshot and Smellerbee. This was the part where they blow up the damn.

I set a whip of water out smashing Pipsqueak's head into a tree just hard enough to knock him out and freezing The Duke to another tree. I had the water cut Sokka's ropes even as I appeared out from behind the trees I had been behind.

"Sokka, go warn the village." I ordered as I moved to check Pipsqueak. The large teenager was alive, I checked his eyes to make sure he didn't have a concussion. He didn't that was good. He was going to have a monster of a headache when he woke up though.

The Duke yelled angrily not making much sense but I was sure he said something insulting about my mother and father. I approached him calmly. He squirmed against his frozen binds furiously. "Let go of me!" He commanded sounding more like a whiny child then the threatening person he was trying for.

"No." I replied simply.

"Why not?" He demanded.

"Because, if I let you go, you'll run to Jet tell him of my interference and then he'll kill all those town people and come to kill the loose end which is me." I replied.

"He's not going to kill anybody!" The Duke denied upset I would bad-mouth his leader.

"Yes, he is. He's going to kill a town full of civilians; women, children, old men. They aren't involved in this war because they either are women or they are too young or too old. Jet doesn't care. He wants to get rid of the fire nation. What's a few dozen innocents to a dozen evil people. He doesn't care, he wants revenge for his parent's deaths and he'll take it no matter the cost." I bluntly told him. He needed to hear it without any sugarcoating even if he was just a kid.

The word seemed to sink into The Duke's brain and he began to sob. I let the ice holding him drop and instead held him in my arms. He buried his head into my shoulder and sobbed like a lost child. Which the more I thought about it the more I realized he was a lost child. He had lost his parents and had clung to the next person who gave a damn about him. Which happened to be Pipsqueak, then Jet.

He finally cried himself to sleep after about thirty minutes of hard sobbing. His eyes would itch tomorrow and he would never be able to trust Jet the way he had before but he would be alright. I gently laid him down next to Pipsqueak his head on the older boy's chest.

I then ran to reach the damn. I reached where Aang, Katara and Jet were faced off just as he whistled signalling Longshot to blow up the dam. I instinctively reached for my bow but it wasn't there. I had my dao, but I had forgotten to grab my bow. I swore, cursing my forgetfulness. I guess that was one thing I wouldn't be able to change. The village would have to rebuild anyway.

I let the sound of Katara yelling at Jet sooth away the stress of the past three days.

Sokka came riding Appa just in time to let Jet know his plan hadn't worked and he had managed to save the town.

"Sokka, you traitor!" Jet screamed in rage.

"No, Jet, you're the traitor. You became a traitor when you stopped protecting innocents." He said.

We hopped on Appa and flew away Jet's angry yells following us until we were out of hearing range.

"How did you know to go to the village?" Katara asked.

"Instincts." Sokka replied proudly.

"You do know you're going the wrong way." I interjected before they could continue on said topic.

Sokka sheepishly turned Appa the correct way.

We laughed together at that. Now that we were away from Jet I felt so much more relaxed.

I had changed something and the whole world didn't implode on me so I guess it was safe to change some things. I didn't want to change too much or else my information wouldn't be useful anymore. But I guess a few little changes here and there wouldn't hurt. So I was definitely going to stop Sokka from going on that stupid fishing trip that turned into a disaster. Maybe the gang wouldn't get sick, and Aang wouldn't get caught by the Yu Yan archers but that would be a bit much to ask.

**A/N: So what do ya think? Better? Please review.**


	14. Use Appa as a Ferry

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Fourteen: Use Appa as a Ferry**

We landed on a small plateau overlooking a giant canyon. It reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the Grand Canyon. Katara and Sokka were bickering about something, but I ignored them as I went to gather water and some firewood.

I found a pathetic looking creek, and filled up the canteens using my water bending to coax the water into the containers. I capped the waterskins and began searching for firewood. There was very little in the way of firewood, but I managed to find an armful of twigs and a few bigger branches.

I walked back into camp just in time to see Sokka start to pick up firewood and Katara start to put the tent up. I could've swore they were supposed to have each other's jobs. Oh, well, butterfly effect and all that. I probably messed something up when I changed events earlier in the timeline.

I set my pile of wood down and began to set up the fire pit. I used a little earth bending to make a circle of rocks and built a tee-pee in the middle for the fire.

"Hey, Sokka!" I turned my head to look at him. "Pass me the spark rocks." I called making a small nest of bark fibers in the middle of the tee-pee for the sparks that I would use to make the fire.

Sokka grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath but went to dig the spark rocks out of his bag. I accepted the offered stones and quickly smacked them against each other several times until I got a good number of sparks. I bent down a blew gently on the sparks making them glow hotter and begin to spread. Soon I had a merry little fire going.

Katara set up a pot and quickly made a vegetable stew. No meat because Aang was a vegetarian. We didn't have any meat with us anyway. Sokka had eaten it all.

Aang, Sokka, and Katara snuggled up in the tent. I sat against Appa's side thinking about my past.

When I first got to this world I was homesick. The feeling had gradually faded, I had more important things to think about anyway. How to survive in an environment that our science said was impossible, for one.

Then it was just a matter of pushing thoughts that made me homesick aside. I was eighteen when I arrived anyway. I would have been going off to college and onto my own life anyway. I would have had to got used to being without my family either way. I had continued to tell myself that trying to make the all consuming loneliness go away. I was a solitary person by nature but it was nice to know someone was there if you did want to be around them.

Flashback:

"Come on Shannin-poo." I rolled my eyes at the childish nickname that had stuck. When I was younger I thought Shampoo was called Shannin-poo. My dad had made the name stick. It wasn't a completely horrible nickname. Just mildly annoying. Especially when it made me remember how naive I had been when I was younger.

"I'm coming, I coming." I grumbled good-naturally, pulling myself away from my computer to see what he wanted.

"Come and sit with your old man." He cajoled patting the vacant spot beside him. I rolled my eyes and sat next to him humoring him. He put his arm around my shoulder and turned back to the movie he was watching. It was Smokey and the Bandit 3. We had watched it so many times I could recite it along with the movie. I grinned leaning against his side.

We laughed at Big and Little Enos Burdett's antics, and Cledus' actions. We had a lot of fun.

End Flashback

And now that I looked back and was glad I had spent that time with my dad. I missed him but I had good memories to last as I waited until I could either go back or see him again.

I slept against Appa again that night.

The next morning I was woken up to the normal ruckus of a group of teenagers waking up. I groaned rolling over so I had my face buried into Appa's soft fur. "Five more minutes." I mumbled childishly. I had always acted younger than my age in some areas and older in others. I was the oldest child out of three. My brothers were twins, both two years younger than me. I was forced to take responsibility at a younger age, to take care of my brothers.

So I was more childish in other areas. I continued to trick-or-treat when my brothers had stopped even when they were two years younger than me; I loved watching children's cartoons; and I even played video games for long amounts of time.

"Kiara, did you sleep out here?" Katara asked worriedly.

"Yeah," I mumbled into Appa's fur.

"Why? We would've made room." Aang asked.

"Don't know. Comfortable." I mumbled back.

"Well its time to get up." Katara said.

"Alright." I groaned, "I'm up." I pulled myself away from Appa's warm fur. And stretched languidly, my spine popping as the vertebrae moved away from each other slightly, removing the slight pressure that had built up over night.

I moved over to the fire pit and began to relight the fire. It was harder than it should've been because I hadn't banked it the night before.

But soon I had a merry little fire going. Katara heated up some rice, water, and several root vegetables to make a quick stew for breakfast. I headed to the small creek I had found yesterday to refill the waterskins we had emptied to make supper and breakfast as well as what we drank.

I coaxed the water into the canteens again. As soon as I was sure I had filled them completely I coaxed water out to rinse my face with and get a drink with. I looked at the small stream and watched it bubble as it flowed lightly downward. I drew simple joy out of watching my element, well, my main element. I rarely used any of the others even though I could.

Maybe I should use my other elements. I was a good enough air bender; I wasn't half shabby with my earth bending either, even though I had only had a few lessons in it. I slipped my boots off digging my bare feet into the earth below me. I moved my toes in the earth making small gorges with them.

I closed my eyes and focused on my surroundings through the earth. I felt small vibrations. A mild motion, a small animal burrowing underground. A bigger animal moving though the canyon. I openned my eyes as I realized with shock I had done it. I had felt the earth. I had sensed the vibrations, I had seen without my eyes. Like Toph could, like a Earthbending master would; no not even earth bending masters learned to sense the movements through earth. If I practiced I might be able to move in the dark like it was daylight. I could be able to move unseen. I could help the others move unseen. We would be able to sneak past Fire benders we normally wouldn't be able to. But I was getting ahead of myself. It was too soon to count my fox-hens, they hadn't hatched yet. But they would.

"Kiara! Kiaraaa! Where are you? Breakfast is ready!" Sokka's shouting brought my attention back to my surroundings.

"Coming!" I shouted back as I picked up the canteens. I picked up my boots but didn't put them back on. I ran toward the camp the others were still at. I picked my way around, avoiding any sharp rocks as I went.

"Kiara! Why are you bare foot?" Katara asked as she noticed I was bare foot.

"Oh, I was practicing earth bending." I explained as I sat down next to the fire. I accepted a bowl from Katara. I sipped the liquid quietly. It was good, it would be better with meat but it was still good.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to fly by The Great Divide." Aang explained. "Its the biggest Canyon in the whole world." I let Aang's eager voice wash over me as I finished my food. As we loaded up on Appa I searched through the bags. "Hey, Aang?" I asked getting his attention. "Do you have anyway to call Appa to you?" I asked realizing I had accidentally prevented them from getting the Bison whistle. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"No... Why would I need something like that?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, I thought it would be useful for a quick get away encase we got swamped by fire benders." I hedged, damn, what had I done. I probably ruined the whole timeline. I could make one. I had managed to make one for Kovu. Maybe Kovu's would work for Appa? I wondered to myself. I reached in around my neck pulling out the small wolf shaped whistle I had carved myself from Carribou-goat bone. I blew on it as hard as I could using air bending to help.

Momo screeched diving under a bag covering his ears. Appa groaned irritably, apparently wolves, dogs, lemurs, and bison heard on the same frequency.

"It works." I sighed in relief.

"What was it?" Aang asked examining the small whistle.

"Its my wolf whistle. I made it so Kovu could hear it. It makes a sound at a frequency humans' ears can't hear. It took me ages to get it right. I managed to make a bunch of other whistles that work like normal whistles though." I explained feeling a pang of loss. I missed Kovu terribly. He had been my only companion for four years, my best friend, my confidant, my family. It was like losing a limb, an extension of myself. Maybe he was like a spirit animal to me, I did after all have a portion of the soul of an Avatar in me. It would make sense that I needed a partner to ground me, like Appa did for Aang.

"You okay?" Aang asked noticing my sudden pained expression.

"I'm fine." I managed to choke out. I was too old to cry. I wouldn't cry. So why were my eyes burning and why was my face wet. I reached up to feel the tears that slid down my face.

Aang's face swam in my vision his concerned features blurring in my perception.

Then I was wrapped in a hug. I buried my face in his neck and cried silently, only slight hitches in my breathing and the slight shudder in my shoulders showed I was crying. Katara noticing my strife and hurried over to add her own arms to the hug. Sokka who noticed much slower noticed nonetheless and put his hand on my shoulder supportively.

It was then I finally realized these guys were my family too. I had ignored it, grieving my own family and thinking they had only brought me because I had been captured by Zuko too. But now I realized they could have left me anywhere if the had not wanted me to come. They could have dumped me in any earth kingdom town we had passed but they hadn't. They wanted me to come. That caused me to break into even more tears as I finally let down the emotional barrier I normally kept up around people to avoid being hurt by the verbal bullying I had recieved in school.

When I had finally finished ruining Aang's shirt my eyes were irritated and raw from the tears I had shed. I slumped against my new family and closed my eyes tiredly. They let me lay there with them for several minutes before slowly getting up. Aang lifted me easily using his air bending. He jumped up onto Appa's saddle setting me down carefully. Katara and Sokka scrambled up and sat on either side of me to make sure I didn't fall off during the short flight.

I finally sat up when we landed. My eyes were still sore, I bended a small amount of water and held them over my eyes. My hand glowed bright blue as the irritation in my eyes gradually decreased until it disappeared completely.

"How did you do that?" Katara asked eagerly.

"I show you later." I promised my voice still scratchy from crying. I swallowed thickly, it got stuck in my throat slightly but still went down.

"Here we are." Aang said as he helped me and Katara off of Appa's back. "The Great Divide." He announced impressively holding one hand out as if he were a host inviting someone into his home.

"It's beautiful." I said.

"Wow, I could stand here looking at it forever." Katara agreed.

"I've seen enough." Sokka said breaking the mood.

I glared at him. I was enjoying the view until his cloud of negativity got in the way.

A guy in a white and gold robe ran by us. "If you're looking for the canyon guide, I was here first." He said pompously.

"Ooh, a canyon guide, that sounds informative." Katara cooed excitedly.

I barely restrained myself from slapping my own forehead.

"Katara, we have to get Aang to the North Pole." I reminded her. "We don't have time to wait for someone only to have to fight another group over his attention." I explained calmly and reasonably.

"Come on Kiara, live a little." Aang agreed with Katara about the canyon guide.

I groaned disappointed. Aang would always pick Katara's side on everything.

"He's more than a tour guide." The arrogant man said. "He's an earth bender, and the only way in and out of the canyon is with his help. And he's taking my tribe across next." He finished rudely.

"Calm down, we know you're next." Sokka placated the conceited man.

"You wouldn't be calm if the fire nation destroyed your home and you were forced to walk all the way to Ba Sing Se." He retorted.

"How do you know we're not?" I asked honestly curious. Didn't we look like refugees too?

"You're traveling with a giant beast that obviously carries you. If you were a refugee you would have shoes on at the very least." He sneered looking at my bare feet which were by now caked with dirt.

"I'm a bender." I replied sounding offended.

His sneer grew smaller but didn't vanish completely. Apparently shoes were a must with him.

A large group of people dressed in brown rags lined with furs. They looked much scruffier than the man with us did.

"Is that your tribe?" Katara asked not noticing the difference yet.

"Its most certainly not! Those are the Zhangs. They're a bunch of low life thieves." He sneered. Stupid snob. I hated people like him. Not that I liked complete slobs either.

"Our tribes have been feuding for nearly a hundred years." He explained.

The tribe soon reached us.

"Hey Zhangs! I'm saving a spot for my tribe, so don't even think about stealing it." The man yelled at the approaching tribe.

The leader of the tribe, a woman decked out in furs and with her hair up in short pig tails, snorted. " Where are the rest of the Gan Jin? Still tidying up their campsite?" She sneered at the man.

"Yes." The man retorted. "But they sent me ahead to hold a spot."

"I didn't know the guide took reservations." She replied

"Of course you didn't." The man said mockingly. "That's the ignorance of a Zhang, so unorginized and ill-prepared for a journey." He snapped.

The rest of the Zhangs yelled angrily at him.

I saw, from the corner of my eye, Katara look at Aang.

The ground began to shake behind us. I felt it even more strongly than the rest of the group because I had my bare feet on the ground and I was using earth bending.

"Sorry about the wait youngsters." The middle-aged man that appeared apologized as he tipped his hat back and his mustache wiggled when he spoke. "Who's ready to cross this here canyon?" He asked.

"Um, one of them I think." Katara replied pointing at the arguing group.

The man ran forward. "I was here first. My party's on their way." He replied eagerly.

"I can't guide people who aren't here." The guide replied.

The Zhang tribe walked forward. "I guess you'll have to go tomorrow." The leader said with mocking pity in her voice.

"Wait here they come!" The Gan Jin man said pointing at the neat rows of people coming over the hill.

"You're not going to cave to those spoiled Gan Jins are you." The leader of the Zhangs said in a manipulative tone. "We're refugees too, and we have sick that need to get through the canyon to shelter." She wheedled.

"I-uh, well." The guide stuttered trying to think of a response.

"We've got old that are tired from traveling." The man from the Gan Jin replied.

"Sick people are more important than old people."

"Maybe you Zhangs wouldn't have so many sick if you weren't such slobs." An old man from the Gan Jin tribe sniped.

"Well maybe if you Gan Jins weren't such neat freaks you wouldn't live to be so old." She replied.

They squabbled back and forth for several more minutes before Aang actually snapped.

"Enough! You're going together and Appa will carry your sick and elderly across." He snapped.

"Wait!" I called quickly. "Why don't we have Appa carry everyone across? He can carry a dozen people at a time. The flight shouldn't take too long. He could get everyone across quicker than everyone walking." I suggested.

Aang looked thoughtful for a couple seconds before looking at Appa. "What do ya think buddy?" He asked the bison. Appa groaned.

"Alright!" Aang cheered. "Sick and elderly first." Aang ordered hopping up onto Appa's head.

I nodded as I took a seat. Katara and Sokka would go with Aang and the group of refugees and keep them from fighting as Aang had Appa carry the groups across. The guide looked a little clueless, apparently he had never been rendered useless.

"Hey Mr. Canyon Guide. Can you teach me some earth bending?" I asked as soon as Appa was out of sight.

"Sure thing little lady." He agreed looking glad to be of some use.

He showed me several stances how to move my weight forcefully to make my moves more powerful. It felt odd, that was the only way I could describe it. Water bending was fluid, you needed to move; water bending was a passive art. Air bending required movement too, it was avoidance. Earth bending was the opposite; it was offense and defense, and hit the enemy hard before he hits you. It was like learning a whole new language. It was awkward at first, hard to make the mental switch to the new element's way of thinking.

We practiced all afternoon. While Aang and Appa ferried the feuding tribes across the large canyon. He taught me to do some fancy moves too. A move that made the earth rise like a wave to hit the opponent, the move Toph used on that one earth bender to make him do a split in the Earth Rumble Tournament. A move that buried your opponent up to his neck in earth. Another move that did basically the same thing except it drawled your opponent into the ground instead of making the ground go to them.

Aang was way ahead in water bending then he had been in the show. At the rate we were learning Aang would only have to go to the North Pole to complete his training.

When Aang came back the last time to get the last group of people I got on Appa's back and fell asleep right away. My last thought was 'I didn't know bending took so much energy.'

**A/N: I am really really really sorry I took so long. At first it was just lack of motivation, then it was writers block, then it was procrastination. I'm super sorry. I'll make sure the next one is quicker (I think). Please review.**


	15. Some things can't be changed

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Fifteen: Some things can't be changed**

I was sleeping soundly, once again, leaning against Appa's side. It seemed to be my favorite sleeping spot. When Aang's half choked scream, that turned into a sob woke me up with a jolt. I scrambled to my feet hurrying over to his side. I knelt down and picked him up gently holding him against my shoulder. He leaned against me but didn't let go of the tears I knew he was hiding.

"Aang? Do you want to talk about it?" I ask looking over his head at Katara who had also woken up at Aang's scream.

He shook his head negatively burying his head in my shoulder. "Its nothing." He muttered into my shoulder. I sighed holding him like I had for my younger brothers when we were younger. He closed his eyes and relaxed into my side.

I immediately noticed when he fell asleep. His whole body lost all the tension it had.

"Go back to sleep." I ordered Katara softly. She looked at Aang with concern as she went back to her sleeping bag.

With a huff of exertion I picked up Aang shifting so he was laying in my arms comfortably. Then I softly walked back over to Appa. I set Aang down gently sitting beside him and moving his head so it rested in my lap. That way he wouldn't have a sore neck when he woke up the next morning.

I gently set my hand on the top of his head lightly. I turned my head slightly so it was half buried in Appa's fur. I was used to sleeping like that from the naps I had used to take on the bus on the way to school. I slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I was woken up when Aang slipped out of my arms. I peeked out from underneath my eye lashes. He had moved to a rock that was mostly flat and sat legs crossed and hands fist-ed and pushed together. He looked exactly like the statue of Monk Gyatso in the Southern Air Temple. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply and evenly. I watched as slowly the tenseness in his shoulders went down. He was still tense but not nearly as much. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Aang could take care of himself for a little while at least.

I was shaken awake an unknown amount of time later. The sun was higher up than it had been when Aang went to meditate. It was probably mid-morning. I looked up at Sokka's irritated face.

"If I'm not aloud to sleep, you're not aloud to sleep." He grumbled. I smacked his hand off of my shoulder lightly. "I'm up, I'm up." I grumbled back grumpy from being woken up so rudely.

Our group had a quick breakfast, soup again. I was getting sick of soup. Then we all clambered onto Appa's back.

An hour later we were walking through a market. Katara was looking at the fruits. She shook the melon she had in her hands. It sloshed loud enough for me to hear and I was several feet away.

"I don't know..." She said skeptically. "I don't like the sound of that swishing."

"Swishing is good. It the ripe juices swishing around." The sales lady tried to get a sale.

"No, it means its overripe." I said from where I was standing several feet away.

"What would you know?" The lady snapped.

Katara set the fruit down. "That's okay, I just realized we don't have any money." She said.

Sokka who had a basket full of fruit had it snatched out of his hands and was kicked in the butt by the irritated lady.

We walked to the docks where Appa was resting in the water, Sokka was rubbing his butt as if the kick had hurt. It was more of a pat than an actual kick. He was supposed to be a warrior, be able to take pain.

"What do we do now?" He whined. "Out of food and no money."

"Why don't you get a job, wise guy?" Katara asked.

"We shouldn't go out there. The fish can wait, there's going to be a terrible storm!" An old woman's voice caught our attention.

Shit, that was this episode. Damn it all.

"Ah, you're crazy. It's a nice day. No clouds, no wind, no nothing. So quit your nagging woman." The man argued back.

"Maybe we should find some shelter." Aang suggested nervously.

"Are you kidding, shelter from what?" Sokka asked.

"My joints say there's gonna be a storm a bad one." The woman said her voice sounding slightly more whiny.

"Well its your joints against my brain."

"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, cause I ain't coming."

"Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get. How do you like that?" He retorted.

"I'll go!" Sokka volunteered before I could stop him.

"You're hired." The man said quickly.

He turned to look at our disapproving faces and said "What? You said get a job, and he's paying double."

"Double of nothing is still nothing." I commented.

"What do you mean nothing?" Sokka asked suddenly.

"The lady is obviously his wife. Why would he pay her? They share everything anyway." I replied.

"Double? Who told you that nonsense?" He asked ignoring what we had just told Sokka.

"Besides, it is going to storm." I added. "I can feel the water pressure in the air changing. Its gonna be a doozy too." I told them.

"How can you do that?" Sokka asked skeptically.

"Well, when its going to storm the pressure in the air increases and the water starts to come closer together to form clouds. I've become very in tune with my bending because it was one of the few things that I could use in an emergency." I answered thinking back to one time I'd used my bending to save my life.

Flashback:

I was pulling an empty sled through the thick snow of the middle of the South Pole.

Kovu was trailing at my heels loyally. He was nearly two now. He had his thick winter coat on, which was only a layer more than the summer coat. Probably cause the temperature only changed slightly in the summer. Mostly because the sun warms our bodies even if it didn't raise the temperature of our surroundings.

Kovu was following but he seemed disturbed by something.

"What's wrong, Kovu?" I asked out loud as I stopped to wait for him. He whimpered and looked up at the sky, to the north of us. I had no clue what he was trying to tell me but I knew it must be important. I turned to go back. We had been walking for nearly two hours and we hadn't seen any signs of Carribou-goat anyway. We would just have to deal with fish and snowberries for a couple days until we could go hunting again.

Kovu eagerly followed happy that we were turning around.

We had walked for an hour before we were hit by a large blizzard.

I struggled to pull the sled behind me trying to lead Kovu through the storm.

We finally stopped exhausted. I panted trying to catch my breath even though each breath sent a stabbing pain in my lungs.

Kovu whined as he started to dig into the snow with his sharp claws.

I took a deep breath and pulled the snow around me creating an igloo around Kovu, the sled and myself. I shivered as the lack of motion allowed the cold to settle into my bones.

Kovu whined looking at my shivering form before walking around me three times and laying down around me like an oversize throw rug. I buried myself into his warm black fur. He was warmer than me, he also produced more heat than me. We huddled together in the small igloo for what seemed like years. Gradually the air around us warmed enough for us to sit comfortably without shivering. I could still hear the wind whipping outside. So we fell asleep against each other. It was warm enough we wouldn't freeze and we would need the energy to get back to our home.

We were holed up in the igloo for a day and a half. Luckily I had packed enough jerky for lunch and supper so we had enough to ration to last.

End Flashback

I learned to pay much more attention to the weather from then on. I gradually gained a talent of telling the weather due to the pressure of the water in the air as well as the volume.

"Sokka maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky." Aang said staring at the gray storm clouds collecting in the sky.

"I made a promise. I can't back out just because of some bad weather." Sokka said packing stuff on the boat.

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him." The old woman said.

"Boy with tattoos." The man repeated turning around. "Air bender tattoos. I'll be a hog monkey's uncle. You're the avatar ain't ya?" He said.

"That's right." Katara said. Both of them grinned. I didn't I knew what was coming.

"Well don't be so smiley about it." The man said. "The avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world." He said jabbing a finger at Aang's chest.

"Don't yell at him. Aang would never turn his back on anybody." Katara defended.

"Is that right, huh? Then I must've imagined the last one hundred years of war and suffering." He retorted sarcastically.

"Aang is the bravest person I know." Katara said putting her hand on her chest. "He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. Its not his fault he disappeared." She defended. "Right, Aang?" She turned to Aang for support. But Aang had backed off and as she asked he turned and flew off on his glider.

"That's right, keep flying." The old man yelled after him.

"You're a horrible old man." She yelled jumping onto Appa. "Appa yip, yip." she commanded.

A large wave hit the old man caused by Appa's tail slapping the water.

"Hey, they left without saying good bye." Sokka complained.

"Your friends ain't very polite are they?" The man asked ignoring the fact he had been being rude just seconds ago.

"I'm still here and can hear everything you say." I told them bluntly.

The old man handed off a crate to Sokka, "get below deck." He ordered Sokka.

"Are you coming, girly?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I might as well try to keep the ship from capsizing when the storm hits." I said bluntly letting him know exactly how I felt about this little adventure.

I jumped over the side of the boat landing lightly on the deck.

We set off quickly after that. Apparently the man really wanted to fish.

It started raining as soon as we left. Not sprinkling, but pouring rain. I created a large ice umbrella over our small ship.

The waves grew rougher and rougher the farther we got out. The man refused to go back though. I attempted to soften the waves but we were still getting tossed roughly. I quickly grew tired as I redircted the waves away from the boat. I used air bending to redirect the wind.

Finally the old man had us onto ropes that were attached to the mast.

I still tried to reroute the waves, but it was getting less and less effective.

"I'm too young to die." Sokka complained.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna." The old man added.

Just when I thought we were going to be overwhelmed by the storm, Aang and Katara came swooping in on Appa.

He dropped down onto the ship and cut the falling mast in half with water bending. Then he told us to hang onto the rope and used air bending to yank us up onto the saddle.

The old man spat out a mouth full of water with a blush.

Then a huge wave towered over Appa and came down over us.

I barely had time to gasp in a breath before we were under. My eyes closed as I held onto the saddle tightly. I felt the water around me change and suddenly we were moving towards the surface.

We burst out of the water and I took a deep breath immediately. I looked back down and saw Zuko's ship with him looking up at us. Then we were out of sight.

After a short journey we were in a cave where the old man's wife waited and hugged the old man glad he was alive.

"You owe this boy an apology." The woman ordered the man.

"Er... Well... How about instead of an apology I give him a free fish and call it even?" He asked.

"Actually, I don't eat meat."

"Fish ain't meat." The man replied.

"You are going to pay me right?" Sokka asked holding out his hand.

The old man slapped a fish into Sokka's hand.

Sokka immediately made a distressed noise.

I snickered. What kind of hunter couldn't deal with dead animals?

I missed whatever Aang said to Katara and vice versa. I was too busy watching the old woman berate the old man for his stinginess.

Then the old man walked over to Aang and thanked him for saving his life.

"Do you hear that?" Sokka suddenly asked. "It stopped raining."

We looked at the ocean and indeed it had stopped raining the sun shone brightly on the water casting glares.

Appa took in a deep breath and I dropped to my stomach just before he sneezed sending a wave of snot over our heads. Apparently the others had the same idea.

"Appa!" Aang, Katara, and Sokka scolded.

Discretely I bended all the water out of my clothes and hair sending it back down to the ocean below. Then I did the same for the rest of the group.

I guess there were somethings that were bound to happen anyway. The storm was one of them. Hopefully bending the water out of our clothes and hair would keep us from getting sick but I doubt it.


	16. Strongholds and Simulated Spirits

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Sixteen: Strongholds and Simulated Spirits**

We had landed in the ruins of a temple on top of a large hill with a narrow winding staircase made right out of the stone from the mountain. There was grass growing up through the earth making the ruins look even more abandoned, if that was possible.

Sokka was very sick. Hallucinating, and coughing horridly. He was packed in his sleeping bag like a caterpillar in a cacoon. Katara was taking care of him, wiping sweat off of his forehead and trying to keep him from getting worse. Not that I thought he could get much worse. He already thought he was an earth bender judging by his delusional murmurings.

Aang was keeping a small fire burning, in the middle of the ruined room.

"How is he?" Aang asked.

"Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number on him." Katara said looking out away from both Aang and Sokka worriedly.

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea. But I did find this map. There's an herbalist institute on top of that mountain. We can probably find the cure for Sokka there." He said staring at the map he had just unrolled.

"Sokka's in no condition to travel. He just needs more rest. I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow." Katara disputed.

Katara started hacking too.

"Not you too." Aang moaned worried.

"Relax its just a little cough." Katara said before she started hacking again. I took a couple steps back, with my luck I would catch a cold too and be no help to Aang.

"That's what Sokka said yesterday. Look at him now. He thinks he's an earthbender." Aang argued.

"Take that you rock." Sokka slurred throwing his arms around wildly.

"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too. I'm going to find some medicine ." Aang said rolling up his map and grabbing his staff.

Just as he was about to fly out the open side lightning flashed ominously with a loud crack of thunder.

"Maybe I should walk." He said closing his glider.

"Wait, Aang. You stay here with Katara and Sokka. I'll go get the medicine. I imagine the whole fire nation is looking for you. They won't be looking for a girl dressed in rags." I said pulling out said outfit. It was the one I used for my alias Artemis. I went to the other side of Appa and quickly changed.

"and voila!" I said stepping out from behind Appa. "Totally innocent looking refugee." I said with satisfaction.

"No." Aang disagreed. "I'll go. I can run faster, and I memorized the way." He said. "You stay and take care of Katara and Sokka."

I made a face at him. "You can't go running all willy nilly like that. They'd be more likely to see you." I argued back.

"You stay, I'll go." He ordered with a tone that brook no arguments.

He jumped out the window before I could protest further. I sighed, maybe he wouldn't get caught?

I turned to look at Katara.

"Get in your sleeping bag. I'm going to collect more fire wood and water." I told her before looking outside. "I won't have to go far for water." I muttered sarcastically.

I ran down the many stairs and began collecting twigs. As soon as I filled my arms completely I ran back up the stairs. When I was done I piled the twigs next to the fire. Then on the other side of the room I made a large tank of ice to hold water then I bent more water to fill it. As soon as that was done I checked both of the water tribe siblings.

"I'm going to find Aang. He's taking to long." I said slinging both my dao and my quiver and bow over my shoulder.

I used my little airbending skill to speed myself up and cut my traveling time in half. I went to the river first. There I took a good amount of mud and made the usual paw mark over my right eyebrow and the thin fox whisker marks on each cheek. I had left my fur coat back in my pack and my arms were showing so I quickly drew several lines across my biceps too.

I created a small mirror out of ice to check my reflection. It would do. It wasn't as good as the paint but it would work. It had stopped raining so the mud wouldn't run either.

I quickly headed down the river toward the stronghold.

I moved quietly and quickly, like the hunter I was.

I arrived just in time to see the fortress erupt into chaos. It seems the "Blue Spirit" beat me to Aang.

Oh well, I would help them get out. I stomped the ground hard sending the gate door down. I left the rest of the wall up so I could close them in.

Aang noticed it first and gestured for the "Blue Spirit" to leave. I heard Zhao say that Aang had to be captured alive.

Blue Spirit put his dao across Aang's throat and started backing out the open gate. As soon as they were clear I slammed the gate closed harshly hoping I jammed some important gears.

I watched them get farther away from the gate then noticed the Yu Yan up on the tower.

I quickly sent an arrow whizzing through the air. It hit the Yu Yan's bow hand which made him flinch. But he wasn't a Yu Yan for nothing and the arrow still hit it's mark. The mask of the Blue Spirit was hit and he fell backwards unconscious.

I cursed under my breath. Oh, well, it was probably for the better. Who knew what would happen if Zuko was still conscious. He would probably try to take Aang.

I whipped up a mist running forward to where Aang and the unconscious Jerk were. I hauled Zuko over my shoulder. He was heavy, but not as heavy as I thought he would be. It must be the lack of armor, that probably dropped his weight a lot. And the fact I was used to hauling large Carribou-goat carcasses around.

I grabbed Aang's wrist and pulled him along beside me. He had grabbed Zuko's weapon as well as his staff.

We were well into the forest when I let the mist disperse. We found an area with large trees that had their roots off the ground. I set Zuko down gently. His mask had fallen off some time ago. Aang had been shocked and horrified but I had known it was him so I wasn't so much. I had simply grabbed the mask and continued.

Aang and I made a small bed of grass and leaves and set him down lightly. I opened one of his eyelids and his pupils dilated at a normal speed. I was fairly certain he didn't have a concussion but I wasn't sure. I wasn't a doctor, nor had I ever had a concussion. I knew concussions could cause sensitivity to light and his eyes responded normally to light so he wasn't sensitive to it more than normal.

Both Aang and I decided to take a perch far out of Zuko's reach, even with fire.

"You know what's the worst about being born a hundred years ago is?" Aang asked out loud. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or himself or even Zuko so I stayed quiet.

"I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started I used to hang out with my friend Kuzon. We would get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had and he was from the fire nation." He spoke.

"Just like you." He said turning to Zuko. "If we had known each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" He asked.

Zuko replied by throwing a stream of flame at him. Aang quickly dodged out of the way. Apparently we need to pay more attention to what is in and out of range.

I followed Aang quickly but I chanced a glance back and saw a look on Zuko's face, I couldn't decipher it.

Maybe it was thoughtfulness or curiousity.

But I turned quickly to follow Aang and buried the memory of Zuko's expression in the back of my mind to be thought on later.

Aang led us to the river and he showed me the frogs we were supposed to collect. I couldn't wait to see Sokka and Katara's faces when they realized what they were sucking on.

I quickly helped gather and number of frogs and Aang gave me a lift on his glider back to the ruins. He quickly put a frog in each of the sick siblings mouths and went to lay down on Appa's tail.

"Hey Aang, how was your trip. Did you make any new friends?" Sokka asked around his frog

I stiffled a giggle.

I watched avidly as they continued to suck on the frogs. Slowly the frogs melted.

"Hm this is tasty." Sokka muttered sucking on the frog harder. It 'ribbet'-ed and Sokka froze in shock before spitting it out.

"Ew." Katara moaned opening her mouth as the frog jumped off her tongue.

They both started coughing and trying to wipe their tongues off. Katara used her sleeve while Sokka went extreme and used Appa's fur.

I laughed until I cried.

They gave me a dirty look but didn't come after me, they were too busy with getting the frog taste out of their mouths.

**A/N: I finished this chapter early. Sorry, I really didn't know what to do with this chapter. Please review.**


	17. Fortunes

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Seventeen: Fortunes**

We sat beside a small stream, around an empty fire pit. The small tent we had was up.

A big green fish jumped out of the water tauntingly at Sokka.

"Look." Katara exclaimed.

The fish jumped again and again. I laughed.

"He's taunting us." Sokka proclaimed. "You're so gonna be dinner." He said toward the fish running to his fishing pole.

He flung it back and forth at the water trying to cast it. But there was no line.

"Hey, where's the fishing line?" He asked.

"Oh, I didn't think you would need it Sokka." Aang said sheepishly pulling out a necklace.

"Ah, it all tangled." Sokka complained.

"Not tangled, woven." Aang corrected as he used air bending to lift himself up.

"I made you a necklace Katara. I thought since you lost your other one..." He trailed off holding the necklace in front of him with a grin.

"Thanks Aang. I love it." Katara took the necklace and put it on.

"That's great Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world you can go into the jewelry making business." He said sarcastically.

"I don't see why I can't do both." Aang replied with a sheepish shrug.

The fish chose that moment to jump out of the water again. Sokka turned to the water again. And threw his useless fishing pole like a spear.

The fish jumped up again.

"Stop taunting me!" Sokka cried angrily pulling out his whale bone knife and wading into the water.

I ignored the obvious romatic scene going on behind me and laughed at Sokka's poor attempts at catching the fish.

Sokka went under water and came back up with the fish pressed against his chest.

"Smoochy smoochy, someone's in love." Sokka cooed holding the fish out in his arms and making a kissy face at it. The fish's struggles became much more fierce and it managed to whip it's tail around behind it and hit Sokka on the face.

Pwned by a fish!

Sokka yelped letting go of the fish.

I laughed even harder.

"Stop teasing him Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, like Momo." She said rubbing Aang's bald head and then Momo's furry head making a funny face at Momo.

"Thanks." Aang said disappointed.

I snickered at Katara's cluelessness. Before she could ask what I was laughing about a loud roar drew our attention away.

There was a man being attacked by a platypus bear. Only he didn't look afraid or worried. He was dodging the swipes with lazy ducks and swaying away only when it got really close.

"I didn't know they had adrenaline jockeys here." I muttered to myself.

The rest of the gang ignored me yelling out different advice to escape. The guy still didn't run. That settles it. He is a complete idiot. We should probably just let him get killed to make sure he didn't pass on the stupidity genes.

Of course, the rest of the gang wouldn't think like that. Coming to think of it, I probably would've saved the idiot before he could be killed too.

After Appa scared away the bear, the guy wasn't even properly thankful. He just said that Aunt Wu predicted he would have a safe journey and handed Aang a package which turned out to be an umbrella. Then it started raining. Katara and Aang huddled under the umbrella while Sokka stubbornly used the egg the platypus bear had laid when Appa scared it. I was just casually bending the water away from my body.

"If you just admit to being wrong you can stand under the umbrella." Katara bargained.

"Humph. Anyone can make stupid predictions that might come true." Sokka huffed. "Watch. I predict its going to keep raining." As soon as he finished his sentence the rain stopped and the sun came out shinning merrily.

"Wow. You really suck at this." I said bluntly.

When we reached the village Katara eagerly dragged us to the fortune teller's house.

I didn't really believe in fortune telling. I believed that the future was shaped by what one did in the present.

Katara went first and Aang ran off to go to the 'bathroom'. He ignored the annoying girl Meng who seemed to have a crush on him. When he came back he was smiling goofily and Sokka said "Someone had a good bathroom break."

Katara and Aunt Wu came back and Aunt Wu asked who was next. Sokka had gone to go with her and before he even fully stood up she told him his life would be full of misery mostly self inflicted.

When he objected she hadn't even looked at his palm or anything.

Wu replied she didn't need to and it was written all over his face.

I giggled softly at that.

She took Aang back to read his fortune next.

When he came back he looked happy.

I followed her back next. She had me sit in front of a low table and she sat across from me.

"Do you do tarot cards?" I asked actually interested. I didn't believe in fortune telling but it was fun to laugh at coincidences when they came along.

"Tarot cards?" She repeated musingly. "I believe I do. Let me find them. No one has asked for a reading from tarot cards in a long time." She told me as she got up and searched the room.

Several minutes later she came back with a deck of cards.

"Here we are." She said sitting back down. "Do you know how to do this?" She asked me curiously.

I shook my head a negative.

"Okay, first things first." She started. She shuffled the deck and held it out for me. "Cut the deck." She told me. I grabbed about half off the top and handed them back to her. She put the bottom half on top of the half I had chosen.

She put them out in a three card spread. One for past, one for present and one for future.

She flipped the first card over. The past card. "A Queen of Swords. You have spent the last few years making swift decisions, you have been on guard. Now for the next card." She murmured as if to herself but it was loud enough for me to hear.

She flipped the middle card. "The magician. You have been taking charge though your companions may not realize it. You are concentrating to make things go your way and you are experiencing your power."

"And finally." She said as she flipped over the last card. "Six of Cups. You will meet with a friend from your past. You will also find a love that is undemanding and you will need to accept your love for who he is." She finished.

I let out a breath I had been unconsciously holding. I didn't believe in fortune telling.

But why did I suddenly want to believe.

I thanked her as I let myself out.

I was silent even as Sokka told the rest of the group fortune telling wasn't real.

"You're just saying that because Aunt Wu predicted you would be miserable." Katara sniped back.

"That woman is crazy! My life will be calm and happy and joyful." He shouted kicking a stone and crossing his arms over his chest smirking smugly like that solved that. The small rock hit a metal sign and ricocheted back at twice the speed it had been kicked hitting Sokka on the head. He yelped covering his sore head even as he fell to the ground. "That doesn't prove anything." He said bluntly raising a finger and pointing up at the sky accusingly.

Katara said something about her fortune being good but I honestly wasn't paying attention. I was too busy laughing at Sokka's misfortune.

We found everybody gathered in the center of the village looking up at the clouds. One man said they were waiting for Aunt Wu to read the clouds and predict the future of the whole village.

When Aang commented one cloud looked like a fluffy bunny the guy said that it better not be because a fluffy bunny represents doom and destruction.

"Do you even hear yourself?" Sokka asked incredulously. I was snickering behind a politely raised hand.

A woman turned to point at a volcano behind the village. "The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Mokapu will remain dormant for another year, or if it will erupt."

"We used to have a tradition of going up to the top of the volcano to check ourselves. But since Aunt Wu moved here 20 years ago we have a tradition of not checking ourselves." The first man said.

Sokka blusters angrily until Katara tells him to be quiet. I moved to the back of the crowd and listen to the predictions from a distance.

A bending arrow cloud apparently means a good harvest. Wavey moon shape cloud, means a good year for twins. When that one was said a pair of males dressed in green gave each other a high five. They were teenagers and looked identical. A curious curious cloud with a twisted nub coming off the end means the village wasn't going to be destroyed.

I quietly snuck off by myself after that. Aang was trying to tell Katara he loved her and Sokka was set on proving that fortunes were boogus.

I was unfortunately stuck on my fortune. I was going to meet an old friend? The only friend I had from this world was Kovu. I choked slightly at that. I didn't realize how much I missed him. He was stuck on a hunk of ice nearly on the other side of the world. And I really missed him. I wish I had figured a way to bring him, but I didn't think the others would have gone back to get him after we got away from Zuko's ship.

And the other thing that got my attention. I was supposed to find an undemanding love and I had to accept him for how he was. Who could it be? Not that I believed in fortunes or anything. Then I sighed. It was really bad when you lied to yourself. I don't believe in fortunes but I want to believe.

I sat against Appa's side as he ate his fill of grass and other leafy things. I didn't know what to do. I was getting bogged down. I knew how Aang was going to feel later on in the series now. I seriously needed to take some me time.

Maybe when we got to the North Pole. I could take the healing classes, while Aang polished his water bending and Katara did which ever one she wanted. Which would probably be the battle bending.

I had drifted off into a sort of meditation when I heard Aang call for me. I quickly jumped up and ran to meet him.

"What's wrong?" I ask looking at their worried faces. Was I forgetting something important? I thought for several moments before it hit me like a ton of bricks. The volcano. Shit how could I be so scatterbrained. Of course I hadn't watched the series in seven years but that was no excuse.

Aang was holding a book. He led us back to Appa. "We need to bend the clouds into the symbol for volcanic doom." He explained. I nodded in understanding. "Do you need my help?" I asked.

"That would be great." He agreed. We quickly got onto Appa while Sokka went to get Aunt Wu. We sat on the back of Appa. Katara was searching for the symbol we needed. She finally found it and showed it to us.

I stood up balancing in Appa's saddle. This just about went outside my comfort zone. I helped bend the water with Katara as Aang bending the air. Soon we had the right drawing made. We landed and ran to the village center just as Sokka was dragging Aunt Wu to look at the clouds.

A menacing looking skull stared down at the small village. I shuddered. I had always hated skeletons.

"We can still save the village if we act fast." Aang said. "Sokka has a plan." He motioned to the older boy.

"Lava is going to flow down hill to this spot. If we can dig a deep enough trench we can redirect the flow to the river." He said.

"If any of you are earth benders come with me." Aang ordered.

"Everyone else grab a shovel." Sokka ordered.

I led a group of earth benders to one side of the wall we needed the trench built on.

I worked side by side with the older men bending the earth up into a high wall on one side and letting the other open so the lava could flow into it. The others were working ferociously both digging and bending the trench.

"It's coming!" Someone yelled.

"Everyone evacuate. We'll come get you when it's safe." Aang ordered.

I quickly found Sokka and Katara and stood beside them in the evacuated village.

The trench wasn't deep enough but Aang pulled off an amazing feat of airbending to stop the lava from overflowing into the village.

We then told everyone it was safe to come back and Aang returned the cloud book he borrowed.

I wondered away towards Appa when he asked to talk to her. I scrambled up onto Appa's saddle my thoughts once more occupied with thoughts of my fortune.

As we flew off from yet another village, my thoughts were occupied with my fortune and what I was supposed to do to help the world.


	18. Interlude: Kovu Alone

**PARADOX**

**Interlude: Kovu Alone**

**A/N: Okay so I had a hard time deciding which chapter should go first. This one or chapter 18. So I finally decided to do this one first. This is in Kovu's P.O.V.**

I watched as the angry male dragged my Alpha away to his floating transport that Alpha called a ship. Alpha had no choice but to let him drag her away. She was protecting the rest of the pack along with the new male cub. The male cub was bald, so he must've been really young. I don't remember ever being bald but it might've happened. The two legs, like my Alpha, were an odd species all together. They wore fur of their prey and had only short patches of fur on their head.

I growled lowly in my chest. I hated not being able to help my Alpha. She was practically my mother. She had fed me, she had taught me things the two legs knew, and she had hunted with me. She was my pack. She had let the little village into her pack without them even knowing it. My birth pack had sort of drifted away from us, Alpha had her own pack and my Sire felt an increasing urge to fight for land so he separated from their normal hunting grounds.

Soon the ship was out of sight. I whined softly. My Alpha. How was I to find my Alpha again? I needed her. And she needed me. We were pack. I paced restlessly. How could I find my Alpha?

Suddenly I noticed a disturbance. One of the female two legs was yelling at her den mate. I moved closer. They were getting on the prey-that-was-too-large-to-be-prey. I moved forward hoping to go with them. They were obviously going after my Alpha and the bald cub. I was only half way to the large creature when it jumped off the ice into the water. I ran to the edge but the creature was too far out already. It moved surprisingly fast in the water for a land creature.

I growled in irritation. Well, there went the easy way. The beta came up from behind me and I turned to her.

My head tilted to the side, an open invitation for a question or for whatever statement she was going to make.

"Ah, you're Kiara's companion, right?" Her voice was rough with age and yet she managed to sound strong and able bodied. Something that did not happen with any four legged creature.

Companion. Bah. I was pack. Family was what two legs called it. But I nodded anyway. It was close enough to the truth.

"You wanted to go with Sokka and Katara, didn't you?" The beta's question came again.

Sokka? Katara? They must've been the two den mates that had been arguing. Though the female was the more argumentative one.

I nodded again.

She looked troubled for a second.

"I'm sorry you missed them. If you want you can stay in the village with us. Hakkida, our polar bear dog, would welcome a pack mate." She offered. For a second I was tempted. I hadn't slept next to a creature close to my birth species in a long time. But I quickly shook the thought away. Alpha needed me more than I needed to sleep next to a brother in fur.

I shook my head negatively at the old woman and stared out at the sea. I would follow. I just needed to find a safe way to cross the sea without drowning. First I had to go warn Shining-Fur, my mate, that I had to find my Alpha, our Alpha.

I looked once more over my shoulder, at the ocean before running out of the village toward Shining-Fur's chosen whelping den. She was nearly half way toward her whelping time. She would have to move to the village. There was no other way. I would have to help her make another den closer to the village. She needed the meat, and I wouldn't be there to provide it. The cubs would probably be born before I returned. But I would return.

I howled out loud a call. "I am here. Where are you?"

Shining-Fur's gorgeous howl came back. "I am here. Are you coming?"

"I come." My answer was projected back.

I raced to her location. She was curled in here whelping den. She was doing that a lot lately. Trying to get a perfect spot hollowed out so it fit her body perfectly.

"We have trouble." I communicated to her. "You must stay in the two leg's village. I must retrieve Alpha and protect her. I won't be here for the birth of our cubs."

I could tell she was upset. But she understood. As all wolves understood. Alpha was the most important member of the pack. And our Alpha had been taken by another pack. A true sign of war. No wolf would dare take another pack's Alpha unless they had the strength to back up the declaration of war.

Of course the male probably didn't know what he did. He wasn't a wolf, nor had he been with wolves for long periods of time.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and led my mate back towards the village. I quickly found the beta and gestured for her to look at my mate.

My mate was gorgeous. In everything. Her fur was soft and looked like the fresh snow. Her ears were coated in a thin line of black, her ears tufted like all of our kind. Her tail was also tipped black and was about half as long as her body. Her nose was black as well and pointed sharply. Her eyes were one of her most striking features, they were as blue as the ocean. Where most of our kind's eyes dulled over the years turning gold, brown, grey, yellow, green or amber; her's stayed the same deep blue they had been when she was born.

I was a polar opposite to my mate, excuse the pun. My fur was pitch black. I had no distinguishing marks, like her ears or tails. My eyes were ocher, at least that's what Alpha described them as.

I was nearly the same size as my mate which was a little embarrassing because males were supposed to be bigger than females. I had been the runt of my litter though and I had never really regained the length that I should've had as a cub.

When I was sure the beta knew what was going on I headed over to find this "Hakkida". I found him lounging outside of the beta's shelter. Alpha called them tents. Though the ones she normally made she called igloos. I couldn't see much of a difference that required them to have such separate names but two legs were weird like that.

"You Hakkida?" I conveyed looking at him.

"That's me." He agreed standing up so he faced me. He kept his tail respectfully low indicating he knew I was of higher rank then him. Or maybe he just didn't care to fight over a title that meant almost nothing to him. I couldn't tell.

"I need you to do something for me. I have to go find my Alpha. My mate is with cubs. I need someone I can trust to provide for her until I return." I conveyed.

He tilted his head to the side in almost confusion.

"Alright. I'll make sure she eats and she has a den built. The two legged pups would be glad to help make a den for her if we can convey it to them." He finally responded.

"Thank you." I sighed in relief.

Shining-Fur would be taken care of. That was the best I could hope for. Especially because I was leaving her.

I moved back over to tell Shining-Fur that Hakkida would watch over her for me. He would protect her while I was gone. She simply nodded in understanding. I was lucky to find a mate that was so understanding. I had heard horror stories of she-wolves that fought their mates tooth and nail about everything and only complied when they were forced into submission. I was happy to have a mate that listened and was able to be treated as an equal without wanting to be more than an equal.

I looked out over the ocean. It was getting dark. I would start my journey tomorrow. I looked at the miniature ship the one male two legs had prepared. Well, he wasn't going to use it. I looked around for a rope thing. There was one on Alpha's sled thing. I quickly found it. She had left it just outside of town. After she had brought all the supplies down to the village she hadn't had time to take it back to the ship-den.

I moved the sled over to the beta and pulled on the rope irritatedly. She seemed to realize what I wanted and untied the knots keeping the rope attached to the sled.

I moved the rope over to the mini-ship and gestured to her. She also seemed to get that too.

"You're going after them?" She asked worriedly.

I nodded. I needed to go after them. My Alpha.

"Very well." She sighed as she tied the rope to the ship. Now I could tow it through the water after me and when I needed to sleep it would be there to let me rest on.

I sighed looking out at the darkened sea. Moping wouldn't get me anywhere. If I wanted something done I would have to make it happen.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

I slept restlessly that night and woke early. I was eager to leave but before I could I must eat. I would need the energy and who knew how long the trip would take? I could go almost a week without food if I ate a good meal the day before I started going without. I would have to find a way to carry water though. Maybe chunks of ice I could keep on the ship.

Yeah that could work. I began digging, large chunks of snow coming out with each scoop of my paws. I picked up the bigger pieces and carried them delicately to the ship. I piled a large amount of snow in the boat. About the size of the male two legs that had left on the large creature-that-was-too-big-to-hunt.

Beta came to see me off along with half of the pack, and my mate and Hakkida. I howled a farewell to them and eagerly jumped into the water grabbing hold of the rope as I went. The rope was plenty long enough for my whole body plus some to be between the boat and the end.

I had a hard time starting because it had been so long since I had been swimming but I pushed on. My fur had a layer of oil on the top coat to make it mostly water proof. So I wasn't as cold as I should've been.

From then on the passing of time meant nothing to me. I slept when I grew tired and ate snow when I was thirsty.

I didn't know how long it was until I reached land but I finally did.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The land I had landed on was called Whale Tail Island. It was in the bottom part of the continent called the Earth Kingdom. I was worried. How was I supposed to find my Alpha in such a large area such as the Earth Kingdom.

I didn't know why put there was a pull on me to go North. So I followed the pull. It was the only hint I had of my Alpha's presence and I was going to take it.

Many moons passed before I caught my Alpha's scent. It was on the outskirts of a large two leg settlement. She had gone in then come back out two days afterwards. I sniffed the air desperate for a scent but none came. But the pull was still there. Leading ever North. I would follow it again. Maybe I would find another scent trail.

More moons passed before I found another trace of her scent. This one was in a forest. I smelled my Alpha's disgust of someone so I avoided that person's scent as much as possible. I found the last trace of her scent on a ledge.

It was almost as if the damn beast they traveled on could fly or something.

I turned to the pull to lead me once more.

When I next found her scent it was in a small two leg settlement. It took me longer to pick up the trail this time but it finally led me to the ruins of a two legs' building. I sniffed around some found a trail that led to an enemy pack's fortress and retreated back to the ruins.

Damn this was getting annoying. I sighed deciding to take a break. I had been following the pull and the scent relentlessly sleeping few hours and always pushing my body harder. I would catch up on lost sleep, take the time to hunt properly and then try to pick up the trail again.

I spent a whole day at the ruins. Catching up on sleep and catching several rabbit-voles which tasted like the fox-hens back in the pole.

I then started out again. My pace was ground eating, and even though I wasn't traveling at full speed I wasn't wearing myself out as much either.

I found my Alpha's scent nearly buried in the smell of sulfur and ash in the next village even though the village itself hadn't been destroyed. I stopped for a drink at the local pond and got several stares from the village. Apparently they had never seen a lynx wolf.

I turned to face the pull once more and followed as quickly as I could I felt a strange urgency press down on me. I took a breath on a hill and tilted my head up to howl my loneliness. My missing Alpha, my mate I left at home, and the hopelessness I felt. I didn't allow myself to rest for long before I was running again back to the pull which was getting stronger and more urgent the closer I got.

I finally found her. Only to see her being attacked by a large creature with no eyes and a odd nose. My snarl rumbled in my chest. Not my Alpha. He wouldn't attack my Alpha.

**A/N: So what do you guys think? Please review.**


	19. Return of Old Friends

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Eighteen: Return of Old Friends**

We landed near a beach in a forest.

Aang found a weapon that looked like a large tooth attached to a long handle while he was looking for firewood.

"Hey look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth." Aang said holding up the weapon.

"Give me that." Sokka said snatching it from Aang's hand. "This is a water tribe weapon. See if you can find anything else." Sokka ordered.

Sokka, Aang and I spread out to look. Katara came by and asked if someone lost something. Aang answered "No we found something."

Sokka brushed a few leaves off of the front half of an arrow. He rubbed his fingers over the tip over the arrow. His fingers came away with soot. "Its burned. There was a battle." Sokka deduced rubbing his hand along a scorch mark on a tree trunk. "Water tribe warriors ambushed a group of fire benders. The fire benders fought back but the warrior drove them down this hill."

We ran down the hill following Sokka to the beach where he stopped.

"What happened next?" Aang asked.

"I don't know. The trail ends here." Sokka answered.

"Wait look." Katara said pointing to a boat that had been pushed up onto the beach.

"Its one of our boats." Sokka yelped excitedly as he rubbed his hand along the hull.

"Is it dad's boat?" Katara asked.

"No, but its from his fleet. Dad was here."

We set up camp by the boat. Sokka and Katara were hoping someone was around since the ship was in sailing shape.

I laid against Appa's side. Aang was using Appa's front foot for a bed and Katara was using her sleeping bag. Sokka was still up poking at the fire when I drifted to sleep.

"Whose there!" Sokka yelled and I woke up with a jolt. I grabbed my dao defensively, but put them back down when both Sokka and Katara yelled the intruder's name in familiarity.

"Sokka, Katara." He hugged both of them. "Its so nice to see you." He said. "You've grown so much."

"Hi. I'm Aang." Aang said with a bow.

"I'm Kiara." I introduced even though I knew I would be ignored.

"Where's dad?" Sokka asked.

"Is he here?" Katara asked.

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern earth kingdom by now." Bato said shivering when a fierce wind blew from behind him. Everyone shivered.

"Ugh. This is no place for a reunion let's get inside." He said putting an arm each around Sokka and Katara. He gestured for Aang and I to follow.

Bato led us to the abbey he had been staying at since he was injured. I liked the smell of the perfume. I rarely used perfume, but I liked the smell when I did.

Sokka made a lame joke about Appa smelling. Appa doesn't smell, much. I used him as a giant pillow most nights, I would know. Bato said something about Sokka having his father's wit. I snickered behind a hand at that.

We were soon sitting around a fire in Bato's room. He had a pot of the most foul smelling food ever... stewed sea prunes. Yuck!

I quickly stopped Aang from eating them. No one deserved to eat those things.

Bato, Katara and Sokka talked about stories from their pasts, and we were left out. It wasn't a conscious thing they just were too wrapped up in the euphoria of rejoining one of their tribe.

"Come on, Aang." I whispered grabbing his sleeve and leading him out. "They just need time to talk to each other. It has been over two years for them."

Aang nodded followed me.

"Come on, Aang. I can show you a water bending trick I made." I said. Technically I didn't come up with it. It was actually made from another tv show I watched, Naruto.

I stood at the shore and made grand sweeping gestures creating a large dragon of water. It was hard to keep its shape and make it move but it was worth it to see Aang's awe of my move.

I finally released it and it fell back into the water.

"That was so cool. How did you do that?" Aang asked eagerly.

"Well it was a lot of practice. I also made a couple other moves but they're not as impressive." I said modestly. They were also from the tv show.

"Show me." Aang demanded eagerly.

"Um okay." I said trying to think of which one to do first.

I took a deep breath and swung my hands upward like I was raising a wave. I large amount of water levitated over my head. I breathed out freezing the water into sharp, thin, needles. They looked like acupuncture needles. Then I flung them at the ocean and they hit the water with thousands of tiny splashes.

"Wow." Aang muttered.

I took another breath and recalled the water again. It rose obediently. This time I formed them into kunai and shuriken. Throwing knives and throwing stars, and froze them. They were larger than the needles thus more damaging.

"Can I use you as a target for the next one?" I asked. "It won't injure you." I assured when I saw his worried look.

"Alright." He muttered reluctantly.

I used water bending to surround him with an orb of water. My modification of a water prison jutsu, only I didn't have to be touching it for it to hold. Of course other elements could probabily break out but for soldiers without bending it would hold.

Aang waited for a second before using air to blast out of the top.

"That wasn't really useful against benders." Aang commented.

"Its meant for foot soldiers. Non-benders." I explained.

We sat talking about small things and I explained why Katara and Sokka were unconsciously ignoring him.

We were staring up at the stars when we heard a whinny. A ostrich-horse raced up to use the man on the back standing in the stirrups to gain more distance with his sight.

"I'm looking for Bato of the water tribe." He said.

"We know Bato." I said.

"This needs to get to him." He said handing me a scroll. The map to Katara and Sokka's father. I tucked it in my belt.

"I get it to him." I promised.

He ushered his mount onwards immediately.

"Come on, Aang." I said leading the way back to Bato's room.

"Bato, mail." I said handing him the scroll.

He pulled it open eagerly staring at the map.

"Its the map to the rendezvous point. I'll leave tomorrow night. That way we can spend a little longer together." Bato explained to Sokka and Katara.

"Good. I'm going to go to sleep for the night. Goodnight everyone." I said finding a comfortable animal skin to sleep on.

Dream

_I was sitting on the old brown couch that was in my house before I had been transferred to the Avatar world._

_"How?" I whispered out loud worried if I spoke too loud the dream would shatter around me._

_Suddenly my parents and brothers appeared around me. Dad was sitting on my right on the couch and my mom was sitting on my left. My brothers had taken the arm chair and the foot rest respectively._

_"What's happening?" I asked confused._

_"Its a dream stupid." My one brother stated._

_"Of course it is. But why am I dreaming of you?" I asked._

_"Because its what we all wanted." My other brother interjected. "You disappeared without a trace. No note, no phone call, nothing. All your clothes still in your drawers. All your belongings where they laid. Nothing to indicate you moved at all. Hell, your cup was still half full of tea. Its like you were a dream we had all had and one day we just woke up."_

_"We wanted to see you. We had no clue where you went. You were all set to go to college in the fall and then you disappeared. We filed a missing persons report. But there was no trace of you. We knew you were alive, we just didn't know where." Dad claimed._

_"All your friends called. They tried to help us find you. They posted messages on Facebook. They made videos on YouTube. Heck one of your teachers paid to have your disappearance posted on the news. Pictures in the newspapers. Missing person posters. We and they tried anything they could think of." Mom interrupted._

_"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I was sleeping and then I woke up in an abandoned ship in the Avatar the Last Airbender world." I said._

_"Avatar?" Bob asked._

_"We haven't watched that in years." Jay interjected._

_"I don't know if I would appear in the show or not but you could check." I added._

_"That's okay. As long as you're alive and well. You are well aren't you?" Mom asked._

_"I'm fine. I'm traveling with Aang, Katara, and Sokka we're at the Bato of the water tribe episode. I've changed a few things so you could check and see if the episodes changed any." I told them._

_"Tell us all about it." Dad ordered._

_So I told him all about my six years in the South Pole. My companion Kovu. And all the things that happened._

_They in turn told me what was happening in their lives. Bob was working as a retail clerk in a pro-sports shop. He got to test most of the new equipment. A dream come true for him. Jay was a co-owner of a garage. He had went to a technical school for two years after high school. Dad's business was booming. He had hired two more of his friends to work for him. Mom had finally kicked her psychological problems. Such as the feeling she was fat and her insistant need for medication that she didn't actually need._

_We talked for what seemed like ages and I learned about my friends and other family members._

_My best friend Maddie, went to school for accounting and became a successful accountant. My other friend Sammy was a successful writer. Something I wanted to do when I was in high school. I suppose I could write a book in this world. But somehow it wouldn't feel the same._

_My gram had had her 87th birthday while I was away and she was still kicking. Bingo every friday, kareoke every other Saturday. My aunts were still doing whatever they did before I left. My youngest cousin Gary, was ten now. My other cousin was a senior in high school. Somehow she miraculously still had the same boyfriend she had had in seventh grade._

_Bob was going out with a skater girl who had a lip piercing, and a nose piercing. Jay had a girlfriend who was a little shorter than him, rather plain looking but as my dad said as sweet as sugar._

_My teacher was still teaching at the high school and she was still hoping I would be found and would return to tell her what happened._

_I was telling my mom about the fortune that Aunt Wu gave me and wonder what it could mean when the room shuddered around me. The surrounding room went blurry and faded away._

_"I love you guys." I said before I disappeared._

_"We love you too, baby girl." My dad answered even as my surroundings disappeared and I was suddenly looking at the back of my eyelids._

End Dream

I pried my eyes open reluctantly. I wouldn't be able to go back to my dream anyway. I told myself as I forced myself to get up.

Was it real though. It was a dream that much was clear. And suddenly a quote from one of my favorite series came back to me. "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"(Deathly Hallows, p.723).

I really hoped it was real. That meant I had really talked to my parents and brothers.

"Hey, Kiara. What's wrong." Katara asked suddenly looking at me concerned.

"Just a dream." I muttered softly.

"Hey, Katara can I borrow one of your dresses. I ripped a hole in my shirt and need to sew it." I explained.

"Sure. Just make sure you return it." She told me handing me one of the short sleeved dresses she owned.

I ducked under the fur shifting around until I had slipped the dress on and my shirt off. I had learned to do that early on because it was so cold if I got undressed in the ship without the layer between myself and the cold.

I slipped out of the furs dressed with Katara's dress with my own pants underneath.

"Hey, you two coming? I'm going to show Sokka my boat." Bato said.

"I will." Katara said eagerly.

"I'm going to sew my shirt then go visit the sisters." I replied. "Have fun."

"Sure. Meet you at the abbey?" Katara asked.

"That'll work." I replied.

I dug out a needle and the thread and began sewing. I wasn't excellent at sewing. I could make passable stitches that wouldn't break after a few days of rough wear but other than that they weren't too good.

As soon as I was done with that I headed over to the court yard of the abbey.

"Madame Superior?" I asked approaching the woman Bato had spoken to when he first brought us to the abbey.

"Yes, friend of the avatar?" She asked.

"Just call me Kiara. I was wondering if you could teach me about perfume?" I asked humbly. I had always been interested in the meanings of flowers and this was a sort of branch off of that.

She studied me for several seconds before nodding briskly.

"Ty Lynn!" She called for one of the sisters. A younger woman with brown hair barely peeking out from under her head wear came over immediately.

"Yes, Madame Superior?" She asked.

"Take Miss Kiara out and teach her about the flowers that are used for perfumes." She told the lady. She bowed and turned to lead me out. I bowed quickly to Madame Superior and followed Ty Lynn.

"Come, Miss Kiara. We have a lot to cover." She tossed over her shoulder.

"Just Kiara is fine." I told her as I followed her brisk pace.

"Very well, Kiara." She said as she knelt down by a beautiful flower bush. It had three blooms on it. The biggest was in the middle. The flower was white with red on the inside. The leaves curved as they extended outwards and it had a yellow bud in the middle.

"This is the White Jade bush. Its almost identical to the White Dragon bush, but see how the petals on the flower curl counter clockwise? That's one of the ways to tell its the White Jade. The leaves are another. It only is pointed at the very tips of the leaves. White Dragon bushes have three pointed leaves. Got that?" She asked turning to me. I nodded.

"The leaves cause a horrid rash, especially if ingested. But if you boil the petals it releases a very soft scent that is perfect for perfume and that will not cause an allergic reaction." She explained.

She led me over to another plant. This one looked like a mix between baby's breath and Brown-Eyed Susans. It had the same coloring as Brown-Eyed Susans but looked like baby's breath.

"This is Badgermoles Breath. Its a rather strong smelling flower that is used in smelling salts. You have to crush the pollen center of the flower to release the scent." She told me.

She went through several more flowers, such as the Phoenix Flowers which only grew from dirt mixed with ashes from a fire; and dragon's tongue which looked like foxglove, and had the same properties.

Ty Lynn was half way through explaining a flower called Arctic Blossom which only bloomed for several weeks during winter when we were interrupted by a howl.

My head snapped up instantly towards the noise. Kovu. I shook my head. It couldn't be Kovu. We were too far away for one. Plus everything would remind me of him. He was a best friend that I had to leave behind.

I turned back to my lesson as soon as the howl stopped. We were continuing our lesson when we were interrupted again. This time it was by a sniffing noise and the rustling of branches as a large mammal shoved its way through the undergrowth. It was large, big enough to hold three people on its back comfortably. It had no eyes that were visible and its nose looked like a picture of a star nosed mole I had seen before. It was lean and built for speed as was obvious by how fast it rushed into the clearing. It had sharp teeth and a black stripe went all the way down its back.

Ty Lynn screamed in fear and I had to swallow a lump in my throat. Shit why were they here? I thought about it for a minute before I realized I was closest to them and I was wearing Katara's dress.

The dominatrix lady sat up straighter.

"So this is your girlfriend? No wonder she ran away. She's way too pretty for you." She stated looking at me.

I felt my face heat up. I wasn't used to getting complimented on my looks.

Zuko jumped down from the beast, ignoring Jun's comment. "Where is he? Where is the Avatar?" He demanded.

"He left. They're long gone." I lied bluntly.

"How stupid do you think I am?"

"Very, considering you left that open like that. Run!" I ordered shoving Ty Lynn towards the abbey and sending a wave of water at the four opponents I had. Jun managed to hang on to her beast my sheer luck but Iroh and Zuko were knocked over. Zuko sputtered angrily as he stood up wiping water off of his face.

The shirshu towered over me threateningly. Apparently it didn't like getting wet. A snarl escaped from the surroundings but it wasn't from the shirshu. Then a black blur knocked the shirshu away from me. The black blur became recognizable.

"Kovu!" I squealed in joy. Not that I would ever admit I squealed to anyone.

He wagged his tail softly twice before holding it stiff and upwards towards the shirshu. It was clearly a challenge. The creature snarled back at Kovu lashing out with its barbed tongue. Kovu leaned to his right making the tongue pass harmlessly overhead.

"How the hell did that get here?" Zuko demanded of no one in particular.

I shrugged. How was I supposed to know.

Kovu leaped forward bitting the shirshu hard as he could before jumping backwards to avoid a second lash of the tongue.

"Kovu, guerrilla attacks." I ordered. He whined an understanding and went to work. I had taught him this for when he was facing young male Carribou-goats whom were still at full fighting strength. He would rush in, do a little damage and retreat so he wouldn't get hurt. He would repeat this until the Carribou-goat was dead or until it fled.

"Retreat!" I barked when I saw Jun about to hit him with her whip.

Kovu leaped back almost a full body length back.

"Bloody beast." Jun swore looking at her injured shirshu.

"Take care of it!" She snapped at Iroh and Zuko.

She was trying to calm her shirshu down so she could help it.

"Grandpa." I ordered Kovu. Which was used to mean don't use teeth. Because some grandpas are toothless. It was an order I gave when I wanted him to herd a female Carribou-goat and calf without injuring them.

He leapt towards Zuko snarling slashing his paw towards him threateningly but not nearly as fast as he could move. Zuko jumped out of the way and threw a fire ball at Kovu.

"Fire!" I called. Kovu dropped to the ground rolling in over several times to make sure it was completely out and he hadn't had any embers smoldering in his fur.

"Away to me." I called. Kovu circled counterclockwise around Zuko who turned slightly to keep both of us in his sight.

"Speak up!" I ordered. He snarled leaping towards Zuko in a feint. Zuko jumped away shooting a fire ball in retailiation.

I wasn't really paying attention so I didn't notice when Iroh snuck up behind me and held me in a pin.

Shit.

"Kovu! That'll do!" I called Kovu off. It would be safer for me to stop while I was ahead.

"Kovu. Warn pack." I ordered even as I was hit by the shirshu's tongue while Iroh and Zuko held me still in front of the large beast.

Kovu looked torn. He hesitated for a second before bounding off towards the abbey.

I felt like a board. Maybe that's how Neville felt in the Harry Potter series when he was hit with a full body bind.

I was loaded onto the back of the shirshu and it followed the stronger wave of Katara's scent to the Abbey. When we reached the abbey the only ones around were the sisters and they were all mostly hidden in the doorways.

The shirshu circled several times confused.

"What is it doing? It's just going around in a circle." Zuko complained.

"Way to answer your own question." I murmured sarcastically from where I was paralyzed laid over the back of the saddle like some prized hunt.

The shirshu looked up to see Aang gliding downwards with Katara's coat draped over his glider. The shirshu leaped upwards trying to strike the boy with its tongue. Everyone fell backwards off the saddle including me. Unfortunately I couldn't catch myself so I landed quite hard and rolled to a stop only a few feet away from the irritated creature.

"Up!" Jun demanded using the whip.

The shirshu jumped up and Jun jumped to it back.

It leaped towards Aang only to be tackled from the side by Appa. It hit the wall hard and Iroh went to check on Jun while Aang and Zuko had a fight.

Jun got up whipping her shirshu back into action against Appa.

Both Zuko and Aang were tossed into the tiles of the roofs of the buildings.

I twitched my fingers trying to regain my motion.

I saw Iroh slip a vial of perfume into his robe sleeves after trying it on himself.

Zuko and Aang were now fighting around a well, a rather stupid move on Zuko's part considering Aang can use both air and water.

Appa rushed forward scaring him into retreating. Then the shirshu came back and lashed Appa several more times with its tongue.

One of the ladies moved over to me and held a vial under my nose. I wrinkled it at the smell but was now able to stand up at least.

I looked around and found Katara and Sokka hiding in one of the doorways.

"Katara! That thing uses its nose to see. Let's give it something to look at!" I called.

"The perfume?" Madame Superior asked.

I nodded.

She motioned several sisters to roll out five of the great containers filled with perfume. I used my water dragon to send a large amount of perfume to attack the shirshu itself and the area around it. It lashed out wildly striking first Zuko, then Jun. Iroh leaped forward and held Jun as she fell.

We used some of the smelling salts on Appa to wake him up and quickly got out of there, Kovu came out of nowhere and quickly got on Appa's back. He was nearly too big to fit. I worried about later when the group would grow.

"Katara, look what I got you." Aang said holding out her necklace.

"Aang. How'd you get that?" She asked taking it and putting it around her neck.

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you." Aang said.

"Aw that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?" Katara asked.

"Sure." Aang agreed and I had to hold onto my laughter.

Katara leaned over and kissed Aang on the cheek. He blushed and twirled his thumbs and I hid my face in Kovu's fur to avoid the embarrassing scene.

**A/N: Sorry this is so late coming guys. I had this whole chapter almost completely done but my computer turned off unexpectedly and I lost almost half of it. Its okay though. The second version is better than the first one. I think I'm just going to go to updating once a week since I'm now working on two stories at once. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	20. The Deserter

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Nineteen: The Deserter**

The next time we landed we had to go for supplies.

We approached the nearest town stopping outside of it to look at the bulletin board. There was a poster about a fire nation festival and Aang immediately wanted to go. But on the other side of the board were wanted posters of Aang, the blue spirit (Only Aang and I knew who he really was), and even one of me as Artemis.

"We might have to put it off." Katara said pulling off Aang's wanted poster and holding it up. "There are wanted posters of you." She pulled off another poster. "And one of you too." She turned to me.

I nodded pocketing the offered poster. I had to fold it four times to get it to the correct size to fit in one of my pockets. Kovu whimpered curiously. I rubbed his ears gently, comforting him.

"This is the probably my only chance to see firebenders up close without them attacking me." Aang insisted.

"What you need is a disguise." Sokka added helpfully.

Aang pulled his shawl up over his head. Sokka and Katara pulled cloaks over themselves pulling up the hoods. I also wore a hood over my head to hide my identity.

Sokka looked at Aang. "Its like you're a completely different person." He said sarcasticly.

I chuckled. Kovu barked.

We walked into the busy streets of the town. Right as we went in was a stand of masks. "Get your genuine fire nation festival masks!" The owner of the stall called out.

We all looked at each other then hurried over to the stand.

Aang grabbed a frowning green mask with feathers sticking out all along the mask. Sokka grabbed a smiley yellow and orange one with feathers. Katara got a blue smiling one with feathers. I grabbed a smiling red mask to match Katara's. Katara looked at Sokka's mask and Aang's mask then grabbed them and switched them. I chuckled.

Kovu standing by my side tilted his head to the side questioningly.

"I don't think you need a mask." I told him.

His ears drooped disappointed.

"I'll get you a bandana or something." I promised hoping he would cheer up.

He did. His ears perked back up, and he wagged his tail happily giving me a wolfish grin.

The rest of the gaang was looking at me oddly, except Aang. He seemed to understand better.

Sokka immediately ran over to get food when one of the vendors called out.

"Whatcha got?" He asked.

"Fire Flakes." The man answered.

"Give me four." Sokka ordered putting his money on the counter.

The man passed over four bags of fire flakes to Sokka.

We walled a short distance away. He passed a bag to each of us before dumping half of his bag in his mouth. I winced slightly knowing that was going to hurt. Just as I expected Sokka shouted "hot!" his eyes watering and his mouth smoking slightly.

"Fire Flakes, hot. Who would've guessed?" Katara said sarcastically.

I took a pinch of fire flakes about three individual ones and put them in my mouth. I chewed them twice before swallowing. They were mildly spicy, they must've got worse the more of them there were. I sort of liked the taste though. I took another pinch, a few more than last time. Only a little hotter, so I took a whole hand full. I swallowed licking my lips. "They're good." I ate the rest of my bag. Katara and Aang took a pinch of fire flakes each, grimaced and handed their bags over to me. I shrugged. Guess it's an acquired taste. They weren't really that hot anyway, somewhere between Bar-B-Que chips and chili.

Sokka objected to me getting three bags while he only had one so I passed Katara's bag over to him. He quieted down too busy eating to complain.

Aang led us over to a puppet show which was rather violent. As one puppet used firebending on the other burning it to ashes.

I wandered a short distance away to a stand that was selling clothes.

I looked over the clothes thoroughly, they looked exactly like I expected fire nation clothes to look like. I quickly picked out three crimson tops with skirts and pants for me, Katara, and Toph later on. I also picked up a pair of men's clothes both in shades of red and brown for Aang and Sokka. The assistant gave me a bag to pack the clothes in and I handed over the necessary coin. She gave a small nod to me and I nodded back politely.

Then I went to the next stand over and got Kovu a bandana as I promised. It was a gorgeous gold color to match his eyes. I tied it around his neck snugly, but not constrictingly.

We made our way back over to the gaang who were starting to circle around a stage. I walked over to their side.

"For my next trick!" The man declared "I'll need a volunteer!" He scanned the crowd.

Aang started jumping up and down excitedly.

"How about... you?" He turned pointing, not to Katara as I expected, but to me.

I turned to Aang quickly. "Remember its just a show. He's going to exaggerate and pretend that he doesn't know what he's doing to excite the crowd. I can always bend myself out if I get in too much trouble. Don't reveal yourself for anything." I ordered softly.

"It seems she's shy. Why don't we give her a hand up?" The man said taking my pause as reluctance. The rest of the crowd roared in encouragement as two guys grabbed me under my arms lifted me onto the stage. I stood on stage easily, 8 years worth of school talent shows making me completely comfortable in front of a crowd of people.

"Give a hand to our lovely volunteer." The crowd roared once more clapping wildly. "Now, the trick I'm going to do is called taming the dragon. Our volunteer here is going to be my lovely captured princess, and I'll be the dragon tamer." He announced leading me over to a chair that an assistant had brought up. I was sat down and tied to the chair firmly. Around my chest, stomach and waist ropes bound me to the chair with my arms pinned to my sides. I could force them to move if needed, the ropes weren't that tight.

Kovu was crouched at the foot of the stage growling lowly.

Aang rubbed his ears to calm him down. He's growl dropped another level but didn't stop.

The man created a large swirl of fire, breathing deeply in before he did so and breathing out as he created the fire. The fire began to morph and suddenly it was a dragon on a rope. The man used the rope of fire to direct the dragon around almost like someone would direct a puppet.

The man began his "oh no I'm losing control" speech but I wasn't paying attention to him. I was watching both Aang and Kovu carefully. I didn't know if what I told Aang would keep him from trying to rescue me or not.

And I was right, it didn't. Aang watched growing more and more anxious as the man's speech continued and he finally leaped to the stage using air bending to extinguish the flames. Kovu seemed a little too happy about this as he jumped onto the stage biting the ropes off while Aang made a fool of himself as a distraction.

"Come on, Aang." I yelled grabbing his hand and leaping away with an air enhanced jump. The jump carried us clear of the stage Sokka and Katara joined us an instant after. We slipped down a narrow alley avoiding the guards that were chasing us.

"You guy's go ahead." I told them as we turned another corner. "Kovu and I will lead them in another direction."

"But-" Aang protested.

Sokka and Katara looked at me seriously. "Only if you swear on your bending you will return." Katara bargained.

"I swear on my bending I will return." I promised obligingly.

"Good." Sokka said. Promising on your bending was one of the strictest ways to say you were going to do what you said you were. It was like someone swearing on their immortal soul or such.

I nodded. Pointed quietly to a little niche in the wall that was practically unnoticeable and jogged backwards a short distance to lead the soldiers on a wild goose chase. Kovu stood protectively by my side as the soldiers turned the corner.

"There's one of them!"

"Maybe she'll lead us to them."

"Or maybe we can use her as bait."

I stuck my tongue out at them and ran down the alley right past the rest of the gang's hiding place. Kovu was bounding at my heels with a wolfish grin on his face. He had always liked the chase, apparently he liked the reverse chase too.

I turned another corner and ran down the alley then when I reached the dead end I used a bit of earthbending to raise the ground beneath our feet lifting Kovu and I up onto the wall. I looked down at the alley as the soldiers poured in.

"Where did she go?"

"She's disappeared."

"A spirit, we were chasing a spirit."

I grinned at that one. Why not really give them reason to thing she was a spirit? She called up a wall of fog from the water in the air and lowered her voice to a husky, but carrying whisper.

"You can't catch me... I am Artemis, the hunter. I catch you." I added a deep laugh afterwards. I nudged Kovu and he tipped his head back and howled a hunting howl.

The group of soldiers below couldn't see me but I could see them. They were all shaking and trying to hide it but not succeeding.

I grinned satisfied my work was done and jumped down on the other side of the wall, Kovu following the jump easily. I let the fog dissipate and wandered over toward the direction I had motioned the gang to go to after the soldiers were gone. They were there alright, but they were with another fire nation man.

I hopped up onto the roof of a nearby building, Kovu stayed on the ground slinking through the shadows. When I reached overhead I crouched down to hear the conversation. Oh, right. He was that man that was supposed to save them and lead them to Jeong Jeong. I dropped down so I landed lightly behind the man.

"Boo." I deadpanned. He jumped startled flame coming onto his hand as he turned around. I doused the flame with a little bit of water gathered from the atmosphere.

"Jumpy, isn't he?" I asked turning to the gang. Sokka and Aang smiled at that while Katara forced a look of disapproval on her face.

"There's the Avatar!" A shout drew their attention.

"Time to go." I scolded quickly whipping Sokka and Katara up onto Kovu's back. I motioned for the last man to get on. He scrabbled onto Kovu's back clumsily.

"YAH!" I shouted at Kovu. He leaped forward and soared over the low wall that seperated the alley from the outside of the city. I grabbed Aang's hand and ran towards the wall using a burst of air bending to send myself, and by extension, him over the wall.

We ran beside Kovu using our bending to keep up. As soon as we got back to where Appa and Momo were we quickly got on Appa's back and set out to put some space between ourselves and the fire nation soldiers.

"You're a fire nation soldier." Sokka suddenly accused when the mystery man pulled his hood down.

"Was." He corrected almost absently. "My name's Chey."

There was silence as we landed and set up camp. Chey setting up the fire for us, in seconds. We all sat down to listen to Chey's story. I was set slightly farther back leaning against Kovu lightly. My eyes sliding closed while I continued listening.

I serve a man. But he's not just a man. He's a myth. Except real. A living legend. Jeong Jeong the Deserter." He said. "He was a fire nation General... or was it an admiral?" He wondered out loud scratching the back of his head.

"He was very highly ranked we get it." Sokka interrupted impatiently.

"Yeah, way up there. But he couldn't take the madness anymore. He's the first person to ever leave the army and live. I was the second but you don't become a legend for that. That's okay though. Jeong Jeong is a fire bending genius. Some say he's mad, but he's not. He's enlightened."

"You mean there's a fire bender out here who's not with the Fire Lord? We've got to go see him." Aang said excitedly standing up. "He can train me."

"We're not going to find some crazy fire bender." Sokka declared bluntly.

I opened one eye lazily. "I don't know Sokka. Crazy people seem to be the strongest benders. Look at King Bumi, and the fire lord, and Aang." I threw in the last one teasingly.

"Hey!" Aang yelped startled at getting included in the crazy group.

"You ride giant animals, who would rather eat you than allow you to ride them, for fun. If that's not crazy I don't know what is." I said lazily opening my other eye to stare at the group.

"He's not crazy. He's a genius." Chey protested.

"There is a very fine line between crazy and genius. And judging by a lot of strong benders they use said line as a jump rope." I said smirking in amusement.

"What's a jump rope?" Katara interjected confused.

"It's a game where I'm from. It takes anywhere from one to three people. You can either turn the rope yourself or let two other people turn it for you. You just turn the rope in a large circle around your body as you jump over it when it's close to hitting your feet." I tried to explain the rather simple kids game.

"What's the point?" Sokka interjected confused. Most games in this world had a point. Like warriors vs enemies or hide and hunt.

"Fun." I answered bluntly.

"Jeong Jeong is the perfect person to teach the avatar fire bending." Chey finally interjected trying to get us back to the original topic of discussion.

"Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning." Sokka said standing to his feet.

"But Sokka..." Aang turned and gave the older boy a look that made you feel like he was a puppy you'd just kicked for no reason. "This might be my only chance to meet a fire bending master who would actually be willing to teach me." He pouted.

Katara immediately took Aang's side. Ugh. They were completely love sick for each other even if neither of them would admit it. I felt like I was going to have a diabetes attack anytime I was around them and I didn't even have diabetes. I'd hate to see what would happen to my gram if they acted like that around her. They were way too sweet. And even thinking they were sweet left a nasty taste in my mouth. Too much sugar.

"That's what you said about going to the festival." Sokka suddenly burst out drawing my attention back to the argument. "Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?" He demanded exasperatedly.

"Your voice cracks, a lot of your instincts are wrong, you are completely and utterly paranoid..." I listed absently.

"It was a rhetorical question!" He snapped at me irritably.

He turns to walk away from us only to almost walk into a pointy spear held by a warrior completely hidden by the brown and tan outfit they wore.

Kovu snarled angrily as I was herded back towards the fire with the rest of the group. "Don't move." One of the men growled demandingly.

We were prodded in single file down a narrow path. The lead spear man had prodded Chey in front of us while we followed behind. Another spearsmen was behind us to stop any thought of retreat.

"Jeong Jeong told you not to look for avatar." The lead spearsmen growled at Chey.

"Wait you know these people?" Sokka asked.

"Oh yeah. Lin Ye's an old buddy. Right, Lin Ye?" He turned to the spearsmen for confirmation.

"Shut up. Keep moving." Lin Ye growled prodding Chey in the back with the point of his spear once more.

We walked in silence the rest of the way.

Chey was shoved forward and ordered to go see Jeong Jeong himself.

I was exhausted and immediately drifted off to sleep using Kovu's stomach as a pillow. I could feel the rest of the groups incredulous gaze on her before she slipped into another dream about her family.

This one was a meeting, but a memory.

_We were all standing in the kitchen, Jay and Bob were covered in flour and throwing more at each other. I was rolling the cookie dough into small bottle cap sized balls. Dad was mixxing more batter and mom was handing him the ingredients as he listed them off._

_We suddenly laughed at a joke someone had said but for some reason there was no sound in the dream. I continued rolling balls of dough, relishing the normalcy of the feeling. My dad suddenly came over and gave me an unexpected hug handing over the spoon he had used to mix the batter. I laughed again and ate what was left on the spoon._

_Both of my brothers suddenly started a flour war and I shouted as I was hit with a fist full of flour in the face closing my eyes instinctively to protect them. I was just about to retaliate when I felt my shoulder being shaken. I looked around but no one in my dream was touching me._

"Kiara, wake up." I suddenly bolted awake at the unexpected order.

Katara and Sokka were standing over me.

"Wha?" I asked drowsily forcing my eyes to stay open. It was a difficult task, they kept sliding shut on me.

"It's morning. I'm going fishing. And Katara's going to practice water bending and wants your help." Sokka answered holding his hand out for me to grab. I did so tiredly and he pulled me to my feet.

I yawned widely and nodded. I let Katara lead me to the water. I bended some up quickly and took a drink then washed my face of all signs of sleep.

Sokka found a large boulder and cast his line out into the gently flowing river.

Katara stood back and started to practice the water whip. I followed her example for a while before getting board with the slow pace and started practicing my "created" techniques. I managed to make a variation of the water wall, then turned it into ice. That would hold longer. I melted the barrier and quickly formed a small blizzard around me, it obscured me from view until I let it drop.

Aang appeared with Jeong Jeong. He stood on a rock while Jeong Jeong ordered him around.

"Widen your stance. Wider! Bend your knees. Now concentrate." He paced away from Aang. "Good, good."

"Wait! What do I do now?"

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating. Look at your friends, are they talking? Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing."

"Hey!" Sokka protested.

"But what am I concentrating on?" Aang asked.

"Feel the heat of the sun. It is the greatest source of fire, yet it is in complete balance with nature."

"So when do I get to make some fire?" Aang demanded eagerly.

"Concentrate!" He snapped before walking away.

Katara and Sokka laughed at him. I frowned at them.

"Aang, think of it like meditation. You meditate, right? When you meditate you don't talk. You have to concentrate on the feeling of the sun instead of your breaths." I instructed.

He groaned in annoyance. He was much to excitable to fire bend properly.

A while later Jeong Jeong came back and took Aang off somewhere.

I sighed as I sank into an Indian style sitting position. My eyes closed instictively and I breathed deeply, in the nose out the mouth. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, in, out, in, out. Soon I felt like I was floating, there was nothing to bother me. A nice gentle breeze blew my hair, the sun shone down on me making my hair hot, and every sound but my own breath vanished.

I began to feel what Jeong Jeong described. The sun warmed my very blood, I felt completely at ease. The warmth pulsed pleasantly with my pulse. I exhaled lightly trying not to break the peace that had fallen over me. I had only tried meditation once or twice but it felt so much easier than it had been when I was a teenager. Maybe because I was mentally older? Either way I enjoyed it.

I came out of my meditation when I heard Sokka yelling. I rushed towards the source only to find Katara running towards me. I quickly grabbed her hands examining them. I led her toward the pond which was a little while off. I gently set her hands in the water.

"Relax." I coaxed gently. "Feel the water, gently coax it around the burns. Sooth it away." I ordered softly. Katara panted in pain but finally sighed in relief as the healing started to work.

"You have healing abilities. The great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability." Jeong Jeong said approaching us. "I've always wished I were blessed like you." He sighed sitting beside Katara with me on the other side of her. "Free from this burning curse." He said sadly.

"But you're a great master. You'll have powers I'll never know." Katara said.

"Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain." He said bluntly.

"And water also brings ice that chokes you with cold so harsh you wish for fire. Fire brings warmth, and light, and rebirth." I countered. "Every element comes with good and bad points.

"What would you know. You're but a child." He said bluntly.

"I know of cold. Weather so cold I've needed six or seven caribou-goat pelts to stay warm. I know that fire is how I cook my food, and how I ward away the dark during the night. I know of legends where a great bird upon its death will burst into flames and be reborn from the ashes. I also know of the darkest technique water bending possesses." I ended darkly. "The body is made up of approximately 75% water. And with a full moon a powerful water bender can use that to his or her advantage. Absolute control over the blood in a person's body. The darkest technique and burden a person will ever have to bear. Fire may kill, may burn. But water, water adapts. It changes things around it just as much as it changes itself." I said feeling familiar despair creep up on me.

I wished I had never learned of said power but I had. Twice. The first time when I watched the Bloodbending episode. And the second when I was forced to use the technique to save Kovu from a carribou-goat attack. I shook the memory away. I couldn't afford to get lost in thought.

Both Katara and Jeong Jeong looked horrified at the admittance.

"Fire doesn't seem so bad anymore does it?" I asked ruefully.

We were silent for a second before several burst of fire flew towards us. Jeong Jeong quickly blocked the closest one with his own bending. Three fire nation ships were sailing down the river towards us.

"Go get your friends and flee." Jeong Jeong ordered. Katara quickly followed his orders. I hesitated for a second then followed. "Do not come back here or you all will be destroyed. Hurry!"

We ran into camp and Sokka stopped packing to see if Katara was okay.

"Kovu!" I shouted. Said wolf bounded out of the forest a bloody dead rabbit clasped between his jaws. "Eat that or leave it here. We're leaving." I ordered as I helped Sokka finish packing. Katara ran to get Aang and he quickly disappeared after Jeong Jeong. Kovu gave me a look like a kicked puppy and quickly chomped down eating the whole rabbit in three bites.

"Ugh. That's gross." I told him bending a little water over to clean his muzzle off.

We all quickly scrambled onto Appa's back Kovu quickly curled up at the back of the saddle and went to sleep.

We picked Aang up along the way and saw that he had made Zhao destroy his own ships.

Katara healed Aang's burn with her new found healing and Sokka immediately demanded "When did you learn how to do that?"

"I guess I always could."

"Well thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the gooseberry bramble. Or the time I had two fish hooks in my thumb."

"Two?" Aang asked incredulously.

"He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook." Katara explained embarrassed on behalf of her brother.

"Oh and the time that mink snake bit me. Thanks for healing that up. Really helpful." Sokka continued to ramble about miscellaneous injures to his person that Katara hadn't healed.

**A/N: Whoo! I posted another chapter. This one gave me a hard time. I got my internet back too even though my computer is still being stupid. So I'm thinking of changing the title of this to Paradox: Book One and having two more books. What do you think? I'm sorry for taking so long, but it's a long chapter this time. I still have a lot of things to do too. College applications, the musical, chorus, battle of the books, school work. I haven't given in to Seniortitis yet, but it's wearing me down. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	21. Seperated?

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Twenty: Separated?**

"Damn it! I can't believe we got separated from the rest of the gaang." I told Kovu as we made our way through the open plains, heading North because we could always get to the North Pole via an ice boat and my water bending. I had fashioned a pack out of ice that ended up looking like a gourd. Which frankly looked stupid even if it did carry more water than a water pouch could. And frankly it made me feel like a female Gaara cosplayer.

Kovu and I had been hunting when fire benders had attacked the rest of the gaang while we were away. We had hurried back as fast as we could the boar-q-pine we had caught slung over Kovu's back unceremoniously. We had found a bunch of scorch marks and a few trees that had been blown over by one of Appa's overpowered air attacks.

We had quickly booked it away from the scene of the ambush and headed North. I was supposed to be with the gaang right now. This should be the Northern Air Temple "episode", and I really hoped everything would go the same as in the real episode. I guess I couldn't help them with everything, that would be stupid. They managed to survive the first time line without me. So why couldn't they now? I tried to ignore how much that thought hurt.

Kovu whined deep in his throat, sensing my distress. I shook the thought away. "It's nothing." I told him reassuringly.

He tilted his head to the one side curiously.

"Just a thought." I told him shaking it off.

It was nearing night when we finally stopped. I quickly built a small fire and began to clean the boar-q-pine. It took quite awhile because I had to avoid the pointed quills on it's back. Luckily they were practically undefended on the underside. All it took was a ice spear to the heart and it died quickly. I quickly cut off a nice chuck and passed it to Kovu. I then began cutting the meat into strips for latter use. Jerky anyone? I ate a few pieces of jerky as soon as it was done and packed the rest up in the cleaned fur of the boar-q-pine.

I sighed. "Kovu we need to reach the coastline tomorrow. Would you mind carrying me?" I asked. He shook his head. He didn't mind. "Good night, then." I told him as I created a igloo out of water in the atmosphere. That would keep any predators from coming to get our meat.

The next day dawned far too early for my satisfaction. I quickly sublimated the ice into water vapor and made sure the fire was completely out before scrambling onto Kovu's back with grace born of a lot of practice. Kovu waited for me to get comfortable before he took off at a ground eating gait. I relaxed as I drifted off into thought. The first time I had rode on Kovu's back was both great and sad.

Flashback:

We had been out hunting Carribou-goats again. It was about a year and a half after I got Kovu. He had barely reached my elbow then but it was still enormous compared to wolves in my world. It seemed there was some natural energy in this world that made creatures grow strangely. More so than just being chimeras, or mixes of two or more animals.

There was a snow storm coming. I had learned to sense them early on. It wouldn't do to get caught in a snow storm and freeze to death after all. We had traveled a little farther than our normal hunting grounds because the Carribou-goats had migrated farther away this time trying to find some lichen that hadn't been covered over by fresh snow. Carribou-goats mainly survived on these lichen, snow berries,scrub and brambles.

The snow had been harsher than normal causing several of the oldest Carribou-goats to die of starvation because they couldn't reach the hidden food as well as the younger ones.

We had traveled nearly five miles more than our normal ten mile hunting range. I was occasionally using my water bending to create an ice slide to push me along.

Kovu was having a much easier time than I was. He was bred for this kind of life. The process of many years of Darwinism at work. The survival of the fittest, the fittest survive to pass on positive traits, and the weaker ones die as to not pass on the less positive traits.

I had finally sighed and called Kovu back telling him we would have to just survive on fish until the storm had blown over and we could attempt to hunt again. He gave as much of a grimace as a wolf could but quickly bounded over to my side. I looked up at the storm clouds gathering.

"We won't make it back in time." I had said worry clear in my voice. Kovu tilted his head to the side before trotting over to lay beside me. "You want us to stay here?" I asked incredously. He shook his head harshly and gently grabbed the sleeve of my coat to pull me over closer to him. "You want me to get on your back?" I asked even more incredulous. He nodded pulling me closer.

"I've never rode an animal in my life." I protested. He gave me a look that said he didn't really give a damn.

"Fine, whatever. Stubborn brute." I growled under my breath. He yipped in amusement and I clambered onto his back clumsily nearly going over the other side because of how horribly I had done it. I sat up strait on his back and cautiously grasped a couple fist fulls of fur and held on as he took off at a quick run only for me to get dislodged and fall on my ass. Kovu came back once he noticed my weight had disappeared. He made a new yipping sound and I had the distinct notion that he was laughing at my misfortune.

It took four more tries before I managed to stay on without falling off.

And a few dozen more for me to feel comfortable doing it.

End Flashback

We stopped suddenly and I realized that Kovu had gotten us to the coastline while I had been reminiscing.

I scrabbled off and quickly used a bit of water bending to craft myself a boat. Hopefully Aang and the gaang would continue to the North Pole. After all, Aang needed to learn to water bend more then he needed to find me. Hopefully Sokka would be able to convince him that.

I made the boat more than big enough for both me and Kovu. I figured it would take about a week, considering in the series Zuko and Iroh had managed to get from the North Pole to the Earth Kingdom in three weeks just drifting. I would have an actually boat and I would be using water bending to propel myself. Kovu curled up in the boat. Looking relieved. Truthfully I had no clue why. He had enjoyed swimming when we used to catch fish during the summer of the North Pole. Not that it ever got warm but it wasn't cold enough to stop us from swimming and catching fish.

It had been five days since we set off, the boar-q-pine had gone quickly considering how much Kovu ate. And I had been catching fish and using a little bit of fire bending I had managed to learn from Aang's lessons with Jeong Jeong to cook them. Of course more often then not they ended up either overcooked or undercooked. Kovu didn't complain though so I managed to suck it up and finish my portions. It was my own fault anyway. I should have practiced fire bending when I had the chance.

I had been coaxing a small globe of water out of the ocean, a medium sized fish stuck in the middle swimming in small circles, when the assault came. From all sides lances of ice came out of the ocean. I stood quickly dropping the fish back in the water quickly melting the closest lances and sending waves of water back at them. A quick burst of breath and an outward thrust with both hands sent the waves freezing just as they reached the source of the attack.

I was suddenly encased in a jail of ice, no room to move my arms. Which would've been enough to stop all but a master water bender. Unfortunately for them, that's just what I was. I breathed out thrusting my arms away from me even as I shattered the ice sending gorgeous ice crystals flying. I took a second to admire my work before I was forced to fight several men who were upset they were being shown up by a girl, in front of their master no less.

I drew my arms up creating a large wave and morphing it into a large dragon which immediately attacked the benders attacking her.

Finally a spear was held at my neck. "Surrender." The male voice ordered.

I turned my head partially to the side to look at him before chuckling. "Okay, okay. I conceed defeat. But for one against nearly twenty I think I did pretty good. Your lucky we're not on land or Kovu would've gotten involved. Summoned by his name a snarl came from behind the man who was holding me at spear point.

"A lynx-wolf." An older man said stepping forward. Master Pakku.

"A lynx-wolf/polar bear-dog crossbreed." I corrected absently.

"Who has taught you to bend? Who has broken our traditions?" He demanded.

I snorted. "I taught myself. And I don't have to obey your traditions because I'm not from the Northern Water Tribe." I countered.

"Why are you in our lands?" He demanded unable to refute my last statements.

"My friends and I got separated. We were heading here and I figured I could meet them here." I answered.

"Why are your friends coming here?"

"Aang needs to learn water bending to save the balance of the world, ect, ect. You know normal Avatar stuff." I said with a bored look on my face.

"You expect us to believe your friend is the Avatar?"

"I swear on my bending and the bending of any offspring I produce." I said easily. It was akin to swearing on your families immortal souls. No one did that unless they were absolutely positive of what they spoke.

Pakku looked like he had been forced to swallow a lemon, rind and all. "Very well. We will escort you to the Northern Water Tribe."

"I thank you." I responded easily. sitting back down in my boat. "Any of you riding with me?" I asked. The spear man nodded sitting beside me and as far away from Kovu as possible. How cute, he was afraid of the big bad wolf.

I used water bending to move my craft forward much to the distaste of most of the water tribe men. Sexist assholes. I shrugged. I wasn't really bothered stepping on a few toes. They would get over it. I was a water bending master and it would be criminal to just stop bending.

**A/N: Hi guys, (Rubs back of head sheepishly.) Sorry it took so long to update. I really had no clue how to do the Northern Air Temple so I thought to myself 'self, why don't we just skip the Northern Air Temple. It would give the Gaang experience acting without Kiara's influence and it would diviate from the show and not change the timeline irrevocably.' And then I was like 'self that is a brilliant idea. Why didn't I think of it?' and then I was like 'I did think of it.'. So now that I know hearing voices is acceptable if you're a writer, I'll try to update this sooner rather than later. Please send some thoughts about me changing the title to Paradox Book 1 and making two more or just keeping this a super long story with all three books in it. REVIEW PLEASE. IT MAKES ME WANT TO WRITE MORE.**

**Signing off, Kage.**


	22. North Pole interlude

**PARADOX**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Interlude (So I actually get a chapter up...)**

It had been almost a week since I had been escorted to the North Pole. I had taken to the place like a fish to water, so to speak. I practiced my offensive waterbending off to the side of all the other waterbending men, which they were offended by. Bunch of sexist idiots. I could beat all of them with one hand tied behind my back and blindfolded. I also took time to learn the healing practices with a woman named Yagoda. She was very kind, yet stern. I guess living with a bunch of sexist men as the only other waterbending masters would make anyone rough to keep their pride and respect.

I had progressed fast in this field. I had never taken anatomy but I knew some stuff they didn't even think of because this world wasn't as technologically or medically advanced as my old world. Huh. I'm thinking of it as my old world, not my world. I guess this world has become my world. I spent six years here, that's quite a bit of time.

I was currently developing a new waterbending attack. It was modeled after Kisame Hoshigaki's Five Feeding Sharks jutsu and the water shark bullet jutsu. It created five large sharks made out of water that attacked the enemy like a real shark would. It also could interact with little control needed so I could concentrate on something else if needed. The technique was hard to get started but once I got it started it was easy to maintain. I was even thinking of expanding the technique to other animals or making the animals out of ice instead.

I was sending a large prototype ice lion out to attack one of my water sharks when the shadow fell over my head. I looked up in surprise and excitement. Aang and the rest of the gaang had arrived. Kovu who had been lounging off to the side with barely a care in the world bolted to his feet and howled an excited greeting.

I chuckled and we both ran toward the area where Appa would have to land. I giggled as Kovu started jumping around like a cat on catnip as he approached where Aang would be. With an excited bark he jumped up onto Appas back and easily knocked all of the gaang over licking them thoroughly, welcoming them back and getting his scent on the rest of his pack.

"Kovu!" Aang exclaimed happily eagerly hugging the wolf-like creature back.

"Kovu?" Sokka asked.

"Where's Kiara then?" Katara added.

"Right here." I said coming into there view.

Appa bellowed a happy welcome and Momo chittered excitedly as he flew down to land on my head.

"Kiara!" The gaang cheered as they managed to get away from Kovu and converge on me.

"What happened?"

"How did you get here?"

"Are you okay?"

"Did you learn anymore waterbending?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Where did you go after we were chased away?"

The questions poured relentlessly from the whole group.

"Relax." I chuckled. Inside it felt good that I had been missed. "In order: I saw the smoke and hurried back to the camp as fast as I could. I used a ice boat and waterbending. I'm fine. I learned some healing. I've been here for about a week. I went North, as far as I could and then made a boat to carry me here." I answered each of the questions quickly.

As I let the story of the Northern Air Temple flow over me, I felt happier than I had for the last week. I guess I really had missed them more than I knew.

**A/N: Okay folks. SORRY this sucks so badly. The site I was using to watch the Avatar episodes isn't working. So from now on I'm either going to have to go on my memory (Which sucks) or write my chapters via reading summaries on the internet. If anyone else has any other ideas feel free to PM me. By the way I won't give up this story no matter how long it takes me to update. Reviews to this very short chapter would be nice...**

**PS. if you read the first chapter of my Pokemon Fanfiction "Oh No Not Again" there are some small spoilers... if you want to read them. Take it or leave it.**


	23. The Waterbending Masters:The Showdown, P

**PARADOX**

**Chapter 22: The Waterbending Masters: The Showdown, Pakku vs. Kiara**

**(There's a bit of swearing in this chapter. But that's why it's rated T.)**

I watched with barely disguised boredom as Pakku's waterbending student showed off for Aang, Sokka, Katara, and all the other people who were welcomed to the feast held in the Avatar's honor. To tell the truth I was almost bored to tears. I already could do all of the tricks they were doing plus others that I had created myself.

I subtly covered my yawn with a napkin in my hand as if I was wiping my lips. I wasn't yet rude enough to yawn in front of everyone. The men probably had tried very hard to get so far along in their bending, it wasn't their fault they had absolutely no initiative to make their own moves (or practice themselves).

I listened listlessly as Sokka tried to flirt with the Princess Yue, while Katara heckled him for it. I honestly don't know how I got through the dinner, it was extremely boring but I had managed and I was glad to be able to crawl back into my own warm sleeping pelts for the night.

The next morning I was woken up by Katara and Aang getting ready to meet Master Pakku. I grunted grumpily as I rolled over pulling one of the pelts over my head trying to get back asleep.

Sunrise?

Seriously sunrise?

Why not noon?

Or after lunch?

Or not at all? A pessimistic thought inched passed through my head, it's not like that sexist bastard would teach Katara anyway. I could teach both Aang and Katara on the go and we could save much more time. Plus I could kick old man Pakku's ass anytime and then heal him afterwards too.

I wasn't snobbish enough to turn up my nose at techniques even if they weren't fighting moves. Like so many of the males. They didn't even bother to learn healing, never mind that their comrades could die on the field before they managed to drag them back to the healers.

Dumb asses.

Sure enough a couple hours later Katara came back sulking slightly.

"You found out Pakku's a sexist bastard?" I asked as looked up from the book I had borrowed from Yue several days ago. It was interesting enough, about the last water tribe Avatar.

"You knew? Why didn't you warn me?" Katara demanded angrily.

"Because you wouldn't have believed me. You would've thought I was mistaken, or that it was just because I was already so good at waterbending I didn't need training." I told her calmly marking my place in the book and putting it gently on the pillow of my pelts as I stood and stretched.

Katara looked at me with an indescribable look for several seconds.

"Now if your done going off looking for people with fancy titles... I could've taught both you and Aang waterbending on route and we could've saved plenty of time." I said bluntly. I wasn't being arrogant. It was the truth. I had managed to use my imagination to create several waterbending moves that had never been used before and I was coming up with more as I went along.

"You'll teach me?" Katara asked.

"You and Aang if you want. We can see who is the better teacher, me or Pakku. Pakku's student vs mine." I said with a small secretive grin. Katara looked intrigued.

"Of course." She agreed easily. She really wanted to learn waterbending.

We sat around for a while longer waiting for Aang.

I was brainstorming more techniques but I couldn't think of any obvious ones. I had been thinking about a steambending technique but I would have to learn at least a little firebending first to heat the water to a scalding temperature.

Finally Aang trooped through the doorway looking not just a little irritated.

"He's a jerk." Aang said bluntly falling into his "bed".

"I'll teach you both on the side if you want." I told them. "I think it's ridiculous that the men don't learn healing as well anyway, or the woman don't learn combat bending. What if someone manages to corner the healers? What will they be able to do? Heal them?" I snorted at the thought.

"Really?" Aang asked eagerly seemingly not noticing the second part of what I said.

"Yeah. Let's wait for the moon to rise. Waterbending is stronger when the moon is pulling on the earth." I said slumping back to my onto my pelts and pulled out my book again reading avidly. For some reason, the symbols that were supposed to be the language shifted for me forming the actual English words, I wasn't complaining though even though I had managed to learn the language.

Later that night we had wondered out to practice with each other.

Aang showed us a move Pakku showed him.

"Tsk." I sounded glaring at the move. "That's stupid and showboat-y. You don't need to learn that. It won't help with anything. Here try this." I instructed showing him my ice needles technique. Sending dozens of deadly needles soaring through the hair to hit the ground sinking almost two inches into the the ice. The needles themselves were only two and a half inches long.

Aang looked almost constipated as he concentrated on moving the water as he wanted. Then suddenly the water was wrestled from his control and did the same showboat-y technique.

"Aang, Kiara said you didn't need the showboat-y technique." Katara said.

"It wasn't me." Aang said.

"You've disrespected me and my culture. I won't train you." Pakku said from the bridge above us.

"He doesn't need you to train him. I'm a better waterbender than you'll ever be." I told him with a tad of arrogance.

He glared at me like I was something disgusting like a snail-slug. Not that there were any near here, they would die within minutes due to the freezing cold temperatures.

"You're a woman. You'll never be as good as a man." He said bluntly turning away. "It's a shame the avatar will have to go without learning waterbending." He said trying to make Aang feel guilty.

"He won't have to go without knowing waterbending. I'm a better bender than you. Plus I'm not stupid enough to not teach him healing along with combat." I said bluntly glaring daggers at the man's back.

"Go back to the healing huts woman. You can't fight. You belong with the rest of the women." He said bluntly.

I growled low in my throat. Something I had picked up from staying with only Kovu for so many years. It was a challenge and a threat. Something lynx-wolves did when they challenged an alpha. Something Kovu only did playfully and not seriously. Something even an imbecile like Pakku could understand.

"Noon tomorrow. You have disrespected me and mine. Tomorrow you fight to retain your title as master. If you lose you have to let Yagoda take your spot and title and you'll need to learn healing and stay 'where the women belong'." I challenged. He couldn't refuse. Refusing meant he was afraid, or that he had no honor (or pride as it were).

"Fine. And when I win you give up all combat bending." He told me bluntly. Arrogance and disdain crossed on his profile giving him an ugly look.

It wouldn't be a loss for me. I could do plenty of bending that wasn't considered combat because no one else had come up with it yet.

We both shared a glare and he walked away.

"Kiara, what did you do that for. He's ages older than you, he probably has a ton more experience." Katara said sounding both angry and afraid.

"I did it because he needs his sexist bastard ass kicked." I said bluntly. "Now, back to practice. Aang try to do the thousand needles." I instructed putting my up coming confrontation with Pakku out of my mind.

We practiced for another hour and eventually both Aang and Katara were able to do a weaker version of my needles. Aang's were duller than needed, probably due to his pacifist nature. And Katara didn't have the control to regulate the size of the needles so some ended up looking like nails and others looked like spikes you used to anchor a tent.

I told them we needed to get some sleep. Especially if I was going to fight Pakku tomorrow.

I went to sleep that night dreaming of different moves I would use on Pakku.

The next morning I woke up at the cheerful time of around 9ish. Which was much better than sunrise. I yawned stretching thoroughly, it wouldn't do to lose because I got a cramp or muscle pain. I set off to get myself something to eat. Unfortunately, the Northern water tribe didn't have Caribou-goats. They did have tiger seal though. It wasn't as good as the one's down in the south but it was passable.

Katara, Aang and even Sokka hovered around nervously. They didn't want me to lose my combat bending, they didn't want me to fight Pakku at all. Finally the time came and we stood in the nearly deserted practice area. Pakku showed up looking for all purposes like the stuck up old man he was.

"Give up now girl. And I won't have to embarrass you in front of your friends." He said sounding exactly like I imagined Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling) to sound like.

"Why don't you give up. I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of your chief." I said my eyes flicking to where the chief was standing slightly out of sight.

"Like I'd ever lose to a weak little girl." He said bluntly.

My friends glared at him. I sneered looking down my nose at him like he was some sort of trash.

That's what set him off. He flung several gallons of water my way in the same showboat-y arch that he had tried to teach Aang. I brought up a wall of snow and ice to protect both myself and my friends who were still behind me. I mad little ledges along the back of the wall and quickly scrambled to the top, peeking out before I jumped on top of the wall. I created a ramp of ice and quickly slid down from the top and landed perfectly on my feet even as I sent a dozen sharp ice daggers towards Pakku.

As he hurriedly dodged the daggers I created my shuriken/kunai combo and sent the storm of sharp, ice weapons raining down on him. He quickly created a dome of ice to take the damage.

As he couldn't see me I created a dozen clones of ice. They didn't work as well as the water clone jutsu from Naruto (Masashi Kishimoto), but they were a nice distraction. It also took a great deal of my own concentration to control the twelve different bodies as well as my own but I was getting better at it. Each clone grabbed their dao swords and approached Pakku's shield menacingly.

Pakku made his shield explode outward taking out over half of my clones. The four remaining clones attacked from each compass direction. They were all doing the exact same moves because it was ridiculously hard to make them all do different things.

Pakku took out three of the clones with a little bit of difficulty and barely managed to take out the last one but got a nice slice across his dominant arm as a reward. The cut was bleeding heavily. Not enough to kill him but he would probably go into shock when he saw how much blood he was losing.

"Do you yield?" I asked somewhat hoping he would. I didn't want to kill the arrogant old bastard, just take him down a few pegs.

"No." He muttered stubbornly as he took a few steps forward trying to move water with his dominant hand before switching to his left hand when his arm wouldn't move without pain.

I easily redirected his move to the side. I didn't want to hit him again. He was going to need enough healing without me adding a dozen more injuries. Not to mention his pride was going to be wounded something fierce when he realized he lost. To a woman no less.

Finally I sent a blast of water at him knocking him off his feet and then used the water to make restraints so he couldn't get up again. He struggled weakly, blood loss seeming to catch up to him. Then he slumped giving up. I hurried over along with Katara, Sokka, and Aang as well as the chief and several of Pakku's students. Katara leaned over him looking at his eyes to make sure he didn't fall unconscious. Pakku reached a hand up weakly toward her.

"Kanna? Is that you, Kanna? Why did you run away? Wasn't the necklace nice enough?" He asked half delirious from blood loss and shock.

I quickly bended some water to my hand and began healing his arm gently, encouraging the skin to knit back together and be stronger than before. It luckily hadn't cut any muscles or veins, it really was just a flesh wound, even if it was deep enough to draw quite a bit of blood.

He sighed gently at the feeling of the pain draining away and seemed to blink, consciousness trickling back into his eyes. "You're not Kanna." He muttered to Katara. "Why do you have her necklace?" He glanced at said necklace on Katara's necklace.

"My grandmother gave it to my mother. My mother gave it to me." Katara said.

"I made that necklace for the love of my life. Kanna. But she ran away before we were married. I never knew why." He whispered sadly.

I smiled as I saw them bonding. Maybe I wouldn't make Pakku give up his title. He was definitely going to learn healing though. Even if I had to teach him myself.

**A/N: So what do you guys think? This chapter is finally finished thanks to Usotsuki Lily who reviewed about twenty times in a row and gave me the incentive to finish this chapter which I have been working on for several weeks but never had the drive to finish.**

**I want to get to 100 views soon, so if people would please review this chapter it would be greatly appreciated. Only 11 more review to 100.**


	24. Invasion of the North part 1

**PARADOX**

**Chapter 23: Invasion of the North pt. 1**

It had been about a month since I kicked Pakku's ass at waterbending. He was much less strict about male and female roles now that a girl had beaten him. All genders were taught equally now. Men learned healing and women learned to fight. Some stayed focused on what their gender were said to do, while others branched out preferring to do the other.

I had managed to pound some healing lessons into Pakku's head too, which wasn't easy.

Aang and Katara worked with both Pakku and I, we worked them to the bone every night so they were learning as much as possible in a short amount of time. Katara was, of course, learning faster. Aang was still a kid and tended to slack off to play around instead of learning all he could.

We had decided we were going to leave the north pole a week from now.

It was a couple hours after noon when black snow started falling. I had been with Yagoda training some of the male waterbenders to heal. Everyone rushed to the meeting hall to see what we were to do.

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived." The Chief announced loudly. "The Fire Nation is on our door step. It is with great sadness that I call my family here before me. Knowing full well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now as we approach the battle for our existence I call upon the great spirits. Spirit of the ocean, Spirit of the moon, be with us." He held his hands up towards the ceiling as if pleading for divine intervention.

"Now I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission." He announced scanning the room.

Sokka got to his feet. "Count me in."

"Sokka." Katara whispered in protest.

"Be warned, many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark, if you accept this task." He announced.

Slowly several people approached. Sokka was second in line and gave Yue a longing, yet hurt look before he left with the new red paint on his forehead.

I held back in the meeting waiting for everyone else to leave before me. I wanted to help with the Chief's mission but I knew I would be refused because I was a girl. So I waited. Aang was just visible from where I stood. He was crouched waiting on a huge decorated slab of ice. Then a man and Katara walked up to him. I couldn't hear what they said but I noticed when Aang got that determined face on. He stood his glider held in one hand behind his back.

Everything was silent as we waited on the outer wall. Then Aang squinted staring out at the ocean. A gleam of yellow drew my attention then I realized it was one of those fireballs flying towards us. It hit the wall harshly sending ice, smoke, and ash outwards and throwing us away from the wall. A hole had been driven into the Water Tribe symbol on the gate.

A second fireball came soon after, but this one flew over the gate and into the city itself, crashing into a canal. The third fireball hit the wall again and Aang quickly took off on Appa's back towards the ships.

Kovu was actually not with me. He was currently guarding the healers encase the Fire Nation managed to enter the city. Most of the healers were still not as good at battle bending as they were with healing.

I got on a boat with a dozen other water benders and began using bending to lift the ships out of the water with giant spires of ice. So it looked like the ship that had become my home. We managed to get nearly two dozen ships that way but there were so many we couldn't even put a dent in the forces. Soon we were called to retreat back to the wall to reinforce the wall. I cast an ice dragon and a water dragon to attack the nearest two boats while the men used their bending to send us back to the wall. The ice dragon pierced the hull of one of the ships, but the water dragon wasn't hard enough to do that so it just swept the crew of the other ship.

Several hours later it was near moonrise and the Fire Navy ships started dropping anchors.

The moon was full tonight. I looked up at it worried. If Zhao did what he thought I was going to do, which was killing the moon spirit, he would do it tonight. I could barely remember most of the things that happened in the series but I remembered the important parts. Zhao would kill the moon spirit. Yue would give her life to return the moon spirit. Zuko would try to capture Aang. The in between was so hard to remember. I remembered the spirit oasis was the place where all those things happened but I couldn't remember the timeline all that well.

Just as I finished thinking that Yue lead Aang, Katara and I away.

We entered the oasis and it was even more beautiful than I remembered it. The grass was lush green, and the bamboo grew behind a pi (as in 3.14) shaped wooden structure. Aang immediately sat in his meditation pose. Hands fist-ed and pressed together so his arrows pointed at each other and sitting "Indian style".

I wandered several feet away, just out of sight for anyone in the oasis itself, but I would still be able to see and hear everything that went on. I sat several yards out of sight and watched what was going on in the oasis with half a mind. Which was probably why I was caught off guard when I was grabbed from behind.

One muscular arm wrapped around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides and my back flush against a very male chest. The man's other hand went over my mouth muffling any sound I would make. I thrashed wildly against the grip, my head being thrown back and forth trying to free my mouth so I could scream a warning to Katara and Yue. I kicked backwards trying to hit my captors legs to make him let me go. Finally as a last resort I bit his hand, it wasn't a very strong bite because I couldn't open my mouth wide enough to exert a lot of force.

The hand on my mouth warmed up noticeably. Firebender, then. Probably Zuko, Zhao wasn't supposed to show for a while yet.

I could still hear what Katara and Yue were saying. I felt a pinch on the back of my neck and I fell limply to the ground, not unconscious just unable to move. I felt a rope being weaved around my body tying my hands so they couldn't move at all and my legs together so I couldn't run. The paralysis thing must wear off quickly, then. I thought as I felt him bring a gag over my mouth and around the back of my head so I couldn't talk. A minute later I was proven right when I felt the feeling return to my arms and legs.

I thrashed on the ground like a fish pulled from the water. Zuko looked down at me then crept closer to the oasis.

"Is he okay?" I heard Yue's voice.

"He's crossing into the spirit world. He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world." Katara reassured Yue.

"Maybe we should get some help." Yue suggested heading towards the exit.

"No. He's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him.

"Well. Aren't you a big girl now." Zuko said mockingly as he stepped into the oasis dragging me along by the rope along my back. I was tossed to the side carelessly.

"No." Katara whispered turning to see Zuko stalking across the bridge and me laying on my stomach on the bridge.

"Yes." Zuko mocked back. "Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you."

Katara moved into a waterbending stance and Yue ran towards the exit. Zuko moved into his own stance and started off by kicking out a heel of fire, then two fistfuls of fire.

Katara drew water up to part the fire around her and Aang. Then sent a wave of water at Zuko as soon as there was a break in his attacks. He was knocked backwards and over landing hard on his torso facing away from Katara.

"I see you've learned a new trick." He said as he climbed to his feet still facing away from Katara. "but I didn't come to lose to you." he whipped around throwing a stream of fire. Katara blocked it with another wave of water then sent her own stream back, knocking Zuko onto the water and freezing him there. Then she made a bunch of grandiose circular movements building a ball of water around Zuko and freezing it.

"You little peasant. You've found a master haven't you." Zuko's voice came oddly distorted from within the see-through ice prison.

The ice turned orange as Zuko built up his fire and busted the prison and sent another fireball at Katara, who quickly blocked it with water that evaporated at the heat of the fire.

Soon Zuko was only a foot away shooting fireballs at Katara who barely had time to block them all so none of them would hit Aang who was behind her. Zuko threw another fireball and spun around her as she blocked it almost grasping Aang's shirt before he was blasted away by a wave of water.

I longed to help her but I was a little tied up at the moment.

Zuko hit the water on his back and Katara quickly swept him up against the ice wall with more water and froze him there. His hands caught on either side of his head in no position to make a fist.

Katara walked back towards Aang seeming to forget all about little old me, still all tied up. The sun bathed the oasis in warmth and I had time to thing 'oh shit' before Zuko freed himself with his newly refreshed fire. He then hit Katara with a fireball that she barely had time to block. She flew backward and hit the wood post hard, she stayed awake long enough to see Zuko grab Aang by the scruff of his shirt before her eyes slid shut, unconscious.

I was grabbed by my binds and pulled along with them. I was slung over one of Zuko's shoulders and Aang had the other one as we walked into a blizzard. I felt my teeth start to chatter as the wind blew through my thin parka. I had taken off my thick parka when we reached the oasis.

Right at that moment I felt glad and envious that Aang was unconscious. If he was awake he would probably be freezing his arrows off. But I was freezing my ass off because I wasn't unconscious. I felt my teeth start to chatter as I leaned against Zuko, not caring that he was my enemy at the moment, because he was warm; he was radiating heat. I felt my eyes drift closed, unable to keep them open, as a night without sleep caught up to me, and I fell asleep laying on the shoulder of the banished prince of the Fire Nation.

**A/N: I'm back! Who missed me? I finally bogged down and finished this chapter. So really guys I need an answer.**

**Should I make this story into three different stories or make it one extreamely long story.**

**1. Keep it one story**

**2. Divide it into the three books that the series has**

**Choose!**

**And REVIEW!**

**I only need one more review to reach 100! I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. (sing songingly bribes readers).**


	25. Invasion of the North pt 2

**PARADOX**

**Chapter 24: Invasion of the North pt 2**

**A/n: As promised this chapter is dedicated to my 100th reviewer: mayndrewfan123. Hope you enjoy.**

I was jolted awake when I was tossed harshly from Zuko's shoulders. I felt by body roll a few times before skidding to a stop, face down in the snow. I shuddered and rolled over shaking my head to get the snow of my face.

I heard Zuko panting and looked behind us. There was a giant fissure. He must've just barely made it over it with both of our weights. "Shelter." He whispered to himself looking the same direction he did, I noticed a cave.

With a grunt I was suddenly dragged along the snowy ground by the rope around my shoulders, I sort of felt sorry for Aang though. With the way Zuko was pulling on the neck of his shirt it was going to be out of shape.

He dropped both Aang and I face down and I grunted my displeasure against my gag. I turned my face to the side and watched as he used another rope to tie Aang up, his hands behind his back, and then wrapped the rope around his torso and knees a couple of times. But I noticed he didn't get a gag. Lucky.

Zuko rubbed his hands together than breathed a burst of fire on them. The jerk, we were freezing over here and he didn't even bother to at least set us against each other so we could share body heat.

"I finally have you." He whispers, more to himself but it was aimed at Aang. Apparently he didn't realize I was awake.

"But I can't get you home because of this blizzard. There's always something." He walked over to stare out the cave opening.

Wow, he was throwing his own pity party. He should know that crying over stuff doesn't fix it.

"Not that you would understand. You're like my sister, everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky, he says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am." He turns away from the outside and closed his eyes.

I rolled over so I was laying up against Aang's side. Some of the cold on my one side vanished as Aang's body heat blocked the cold on the one side. Zuko looked over at us at the sound. I shuddered leaning against Aang. Being out of the icy land of the South Pole had spoiled me, I was now used to warmth instead of the coldness of the arctic lands of the water tribes.

"We'll be here for a while." Zuko mused out loud.

I grunted, the gag still preventing me from speaking. But at least it was keeping my lips warm, I hoped they wouldn't get chapped. I sighed and closed my eyes. Maybe the time would pass faster this way?

A while later a bright flash of blue light shone through my closed eyelids and I opened my eyes surprised as Aang began wiggling, trying to untie himself. He sat up and stared at Zuko.

"Welcome back." Zuko said gruffly, with a bit of sarcasm showing through.

"Good to be back." Aang glared at him and then inhaled deeply and let out a huge burst of air that served a double purpose. One it blew Zuko into the wall of the cave, two it sent us flying out of the cave. I was only pulled along with Aang because I was at the side that was opposite of the breath.

Aang immediately started inching away like a caterpillar and I was quick to follow his example but not quick enough. Aang was several body lengths ahead of me when Zuko caught up grabbing me by the rope around my shoulders.

He lifted me up, facing him and demanded Aang stop moving or I would get hurt.

There was a silence for a minute then Appa landed and Katara and Sokka jumped off. Before Zuko could react, Katara sent a water whip at the back of his head knocking him unconscious. His eyes slid shut but he was still on his feet then he slowly tilted dangerously towards me. I was still tied up and trapped in Zuko's grip. I hit the ground first then he fell on top of me.

I grunted as the air was forced out of my lungs at his body weight on me. His face was pressed against my neck and I felt his breath warm it as he breathed evenly. I could literally feel my face flushing. This was extremely embarrassing, and awkward, not to mention degrading. I squirmed trying to dislodge him, but he was a lot more solidly built then he looked.

"Kiara!" The gaang called out worried.

I grunted. I really needed to burn this gag as soon as I get out of this mess and find a fire.

Sokka hurried to untie Aang, stupidly commenting on the quality of the rope.

Aang hurried over to me and rolled Zuko off of me. Then he removed my gag and bindings.

"Damn it. I was practically useless today." I growled getting to my feet. I huffed then bent down and hefted Zuko up onto my back.

"What are you doing?" Sokka demanded.

"I'm not just going to leave him out here to die." I said bluntly as I walked up Appa's ramp-like tail.

Aang agreed. Sokka, Katara, and Yue made no more objections.

We hurriedly headed for the city. The moon turned red soon after we started our journey.

Yue said she felt faint then said the moon spirit must be in danger and told us how the moon spirit gave her life.

We landed in time to hear Zhao start to give his rant.

"...they will call me Zhoa the conqueror, Zhao the moon-slayer, Zhao the invincible!" Momo took that moment to clamber all over Zhao's face. Zhao hollered for his soldiers to get it off of him and as they gathered round Momo jumped off of him and flew over to Aang's outstretched arm.

I subtly snuck off to the side, inching my way to the pond in the middle of the oasis. Zhao ignored me, I was important enough to notice. He then threatened the moon spirit which he held in a sack.

Aang tried to reason with him. I was a foot away from the pond now.

Zhao didn't listen to Aang but when Iroh interrupted, Zhao called Iroh a traitor. Iroh demanded the spirit be let go on the threat that anything done to the moon spirit would happen to Zhao himself a ten fold. Zhao looked down as if he was giving up and relesed the koi that was the moon spirit's mortal form back in the water.

Then as he drew back to unleash a fiery blast on the moon spirit I jumped forward shielding myself with water even as I shielded the spirits with my own body. Then screamed in pain as the fire blast burnt through my water shield and smacked into my back branding it with scorching heat. I sobbed in pain as I lay in the pond, the koi fish swam faster and faster around me looking flustered and agitated.

"KIARA!" My friends yelled.

Iroh released a huge burst of fire at Zhao just as Aang airbended, sending the fire speeding towards Zhao even faster and more powerful than it would have been by itself.

The cool water of the pond was little comfort to the harsh burn of my wound. Even as the water began to glow around my body, as my healing powers kicked in, the pain was still as strong as ever.

There was a brilliant white glow as Aang entered the Avatar state. The black koi fish that was the Ocean spirit jumped out of the water locking eyes with Aang in his state. It floated there, suspended by a small amount of water. It's eyes slowly started to glow as well as the dot on it's head then slowly a bunch of the water from the oasis rose up to surround Aang and then Aang in the shape of a giant Koi monster creature rose up with Aang glowing in the middle where the heart would be.

I howled in pain as I thrashed uselessly in the water. The moon spirit swam around me brushing against my face with every pass as if trying to comfort me. But the agony of the burn wasn't leaving even as my own healing powers and the moon spirit's healing powers worked. After a while the pain dulled but didn't retreat completely, and I slumped in exhaustion and pain. I was slowly lifted from the pond and held in unfamiliar, but warm and gentle hands. I sighed softly as the man holding me readjusted his grip so he was holding at the top of my shoulders and under my knees so he didn't touch the scar that now spanned across the middle of my back and across the lower sides of my arms. I had jumped forward with my arms outstretched trying to defend the spirits and the attack had cut a path from my right forearm to my left elbow.

I blinked tears away and stared up at the kind, old face of Iroh.

"Hurts." I whimpered, feeling more pathetic by the moment.

"Hush, child. It will be okay. You did a very brave thing defending the spirits just now." He whispered comfortingly.

"I don't feel brave. I feel stupid." I admitted softly.

"Some times the two blend so much that no one but someone who is outside of the incident can tell between the two." Iroh said sagely.

"Is she okay?" Katara asked leaning over me hurriedly and hovering like an worried bumblebee.

"Give her to me." Sokka demanded, distrusting the firebender instinctively.

"I can't, it will hurt her to shuffle around too much." Iroh explained gently, holding me steadily against his chest.

I sighed this time in only exhaustion. The pain had finally faded away. My eyes drifted shut of their own accord and I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up a short time later laying on my stomach on one of Appa's furry legs.

"I can't take care of that kind of wound." I heard Katara admit.

"She won't be able to handle being jolted so much on the back of Appa." Aang agreed reluctantly.

"We should leave her here. Not let a firebender take her." Sokka interrupted saying firebender like it was a fithy word.

"Iroh said he could take care of her. He took care of Zuko's burn scar too." Katara interrupted.

"She won't like being ditched by us." Aang interjected.

"But if she goes with Zuko we'll probably meet up every other week. We can ask her how her burn is and just take her when it's healed enough for her to travel." Katara interjected a little bit of logic into the argument.

I agreed with Aang. I won't like being ditched by them.

"We'll have to let Iroh take care of her." Katara finally stated firmly.

I opened my eyes partially so they looked like they were still closed and watched Sokka and Aang's reactions.

Aang's resolve faltered first. "Okay."

Sokka looked reluctant, but then looked over at my "sleeping" body and nodded his head in acceptance.

Iroh appeared around the corner, Zuko trailing behind looking exhausted. Katara stared warily at Zuko, but Zuko made no move to attack.

"Your decision?" Iroh asked, "We can't stay much longer or we'll be caught." He explained.

"We'll let you take Kiara, as long as you promise to treat her well, help her heal, and release her back to us when she is healed." Katara stated formally.

I saw a small serious smile spread across Iroh's face. "Of course."

He moved over to me and gently scooped me up into his arms again. I opened my eyes and stared at him blearily. Then closed them again, I knew I was safe with Iroh.

"Here." Katara muttered just loud enough for me to hear. She shuffled around handing my belongings over to Iroh and Zuko, as well as provisions for two weeks.

I blinked my eyes open and stared at Katara.

"Kovu?" I whispered worriedly.

"He'll come with us. We'll take care of him." Aang said instantly soothing my worries.

"Tell him to behave." I whispered tiredly, slowly drifting back asleep even as Iroh began to move carrying me along.

I was set down on a soft pelt, stomach down to avoid irritating the burns on my back.

"I'm surprised that even now you're not trying to capture the avatar." I heard Iroh remark before I fell asleep completely.

**A/n: Oh god. I have no idea where that came from. It was out of left field and I really have no clue why I wrote it. But I can't bring myself to rewrite it. Kiara now has an injury that will impede her movements some and draw attention to her arms. She is also now traveling with Zuko and Iroh.**

**Next: the story will be officially turned into three different stories. This is the end of book one, a nice even 25 chapters. I will be renaming the story Paradox Book One: Water, as soon as I post the first chapter of the sequel. I will also mark this story as complete when I post the first chapter of the next story.**

**Everyone review and tell me what you think. Please don't flame me for this chapter. I hope this story will still keep you reading.**

**P.S. Book 2 is up! Check the sequel out!**


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